


Living in Fear

by zeusfluff



Series: Shifting Realities [2]
Category: Fringe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 07:57:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5658625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeusfluff/pseuds/zeusfluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When nightmares and headaches start to plague Olivia, as a result of </p><p>a chip implanted into her tooth she starts to wonder: Is this part of </p><p>the Pattern? Or ZFT?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own an original character.

October 15th, 2010

Location: An abandoned warehouse in Watertown

“How long do we have before Agent Dunham wakes up sir?”

Doctor Anderson smirked at me. I was only his lowly assistant. He 

knew that she would be out for hours. We’d have her back to her 

husband before he even noticed she was gone. I handed him the drill 

he had instructed that I give him. We’d have to be quick about 

inserting the chip into her molar. The top left in the back was best.

“Don’t worry about a thing Michael. We’ll have agent Dunham back 

in her bed before her husband wakes. We gave her enough sedative 

to keep her asleep through the whole procedure. Now give me the 

chip.”

 

I open up my eyes when a blinding headache grabs a hold of me. I 

hope I’m not getting a migraine. I swung my legs over the side of 

the bed and shivered. It was so cold in here! I put my head in my 

hands and pinched the bridge of my nose. Peter stirred next to me 

and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Liv you okay?”

Like I hadn’t heard that from my husband thousands of times 

before. I ignored him and pinched the bridge of my nose tighter still. 

I swallowed and answered him, not knowing if my voice sounded 

like me or not.

“I’m fine Peter. It’s just a little headache. Nothing I haven’t 

experienced before. I think I just need to eat something and take a 

couple of aspirin. Besides, it’s almost time to get up anyways.”

Peter still looked at me concerned, but was annoyed that even 

though my head hurt, I was still so chipper so early in the morning. 

In the Marines we had no choice. Most times we were up before the 

sun doing warm up drills.

“You know I always disliked how you could get up so early in the 

morning and be so chipper about everything. Were you like this 

when you were in the Marines too?”

I nodded my head, though I was very serious. I carefully placed my 

feet on the ground to test it below me. Solid. I then made my way 

into the bathroom. I felt the urge to cough when I stood in front of 

the sink. I’d be damned if I was getting a head cold right now.

I spit out what was in my mouth thinking that my lungs were 

congested and my saliva would be green. Instead, blood came out of 

my mouth. That’s not normal. My stomach didn’t hurt, so I was 

pretty sure it wasn’t an ulcer. I slid my tongue around in my mouth 

to see if maybe I bit the inside of my lip. There weren’t any cuts in 

my mouth that I could feel. I felt around my teeth to see if maybe I 

had chipped a piece of my tooth off. That could be what’s causing 

this. Everything felt normal. Before I could wash the blood evidence 

from the sink Peter came into bathroom.

“You’re sure taking a long time in here... What’s all this?”

I looked back at Peter with a mask of calm already in place. It was 

nothing he needed to worry about. Nothing at all. I shrugged his 

hand away from my shoulder and turned the faucet to the sink on, 

washing away all the blood down the drain.

“It’s nothing Peter. I just bit the inside of my lip is all. I think I might 

have a chipped tooth in my mouth somewhere.”

Peter was not amused by the way I was acting, headache or not. He 

knew this wasn’t normal for me. I was just in a crabby mood 

because I had a headache. I’d feel better once I ate and had a couple 

aspirin. I pushed my way past him and back into the bedroom. I 

opened up the closet and rifled through it trying to find my black 

pantsuit. I finally found it in the back of the closet with a few formal 

dresses I only wore on special occasions.

I wasn’t in the mood for a shower, only because I’d had one the 

night before. I pulled my nightgown over my head and threw it on 

the floor haphazardly. I wasn’t in the mood for picking things up. I 

pulled on a long sleeved white blouse over my head. Sitting down on 

the bed I pulled my pants up over my hips and then put on a pair of 

socks.

Putting my shoes on still proved difficult. It was only a year ago now 

that I’d had my accident in New York. My hands still shook when I 

put them on my feet. So I didn’t bother with laces. I slipped them on 

over my feet. I quickly ran my brush through my hair and put it up 

into a tight bun. Professional but practical. Peter still sat on the edge 

of the bed in his boxer shorts. I sighed looking at him. He lie back 

down on the bed throwing an arm over his face. My headache 

subsiding somewhat, I felt my strength coming back to me. I pushed 

the blanket back and yanked Peter up into a sitting position.

“Peter I’m not in the mood for this right now. Dressed in 10 is that 

clear?”

Peter muttered something under his breath but I wasn’t in the mood 

to argue with him. I only turned away and headed out into the 

hallway. I managed to make my way down the stairs before a huge 

wave of dizziness and nausea hit me like waves crashing up onto the 

rocks on the beach. I needed to eat and get a couple of aspirin in 

me. I took deep breaths and steadied myself with the banister at the 

bottom of the stairs. Once I got my bearings straight again, I made 

my way towards the kitchen. Pushing the door open, I noticed 

Walter cooking an Omelet on the stove. It smelled good, but I knew 

better. Whatever you do Olivia, don’t eat that Omelet. It could be 

one of Walter’s experiments. 

“Walter that smells really good. Is that to eat? Or is it one of your 

experiments?”

Walter turned to me and the smile slid right off his face. He removed 

the pan he was cooking his omelet in from the burner to the other 

side of the stove. He led me over to a chair at the kitchen table and 

started looking me over carefully.

“My dear, you look awful. I’d say you have a sixty-two percent 

chance of coming down with something... Either that or you’re...”

I had an inkling of where Walter was going with this conversation. I 

didn’t like it. There was no way he was thinking that I was even 

remotely pregnant. Peter and I had agreed we’d wait at least a year 

or two before starting a family.

“Don’t you think that’s kind of a personal question Walter? I’m not 

pregnant Walter. So don’t draw such ambitious conclusions...”

Peter must have heard Walter and I’s conversation and he walked in 

on the exact moment I’d said my second sentence. Shaking his head 

he spoke.

“Walter she’s not pregnant. How many times do I have to tell you 

that? I know you want a grandchild in the house Walter, but Olivia 

and I are holding off on that for a little while. Just be patient.”

Walter’s face fell momentarily and I felt bad for him. He quickly 

turned his attention back to the unaccompanied omelet left to keep 

cooking on the stove. Peter was already pouring himself a cup of 

coffee from the coffee pot on the counter. I turned to him and 

smiled tiredly.

“Coffee sounds good Peter. Could you pour me a cup too?”

Walter set the omelet down in front of me with a fork and 

everything. He smiled and pushed the plate towards me.

“Here Agent Dunham, you need to eat. After all, you are eating for 

two...”

I shoved the plate aside, accidently letting it fall to the floor with a 

loud crash. I stormed out of the room but not before saying this:

“Walter! Would you get off that please? I’m not pregnant!”

To Be Continued...


	2. Toothache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters.

October 15th, 2010

Harvard: Walter’s lab

My tooth hadn’t bothered me until I came into the lab a few minutes 

ago. At first it was this dull throbbing pain, kind of like the headache 

I had this morning when I got out of bed. I tried to ignore the 

sensation and continued looking at the case file in front of me on the 

desk. This was a time I truly enjoyed having my own office to work 

in... Maybe a fifth of Jack Daniels would “cure” my toothache. I set 

down the page I had been thumbing through for evidence and results 

and opened up the bottom left hand drawer. Just as I pulled the 

bottle out and was about to pour a glass for myself, Peter stepped 

into the office.

“You know drinking isn’t the answer to your problems, and you 

shouldn’t really be drinking in your condition anyways.”

I gave Peter a look. How did he know? I knew I should have thrown 

that home pregnancy test somewhere else... I slammed the cap back 

on the bottle and shoved it back into its hiding place in the bottom 

drawer again for safe keeping. I gritted my teeth and glared at Peter.

“How’d you know?”

Peter only crossed his arms across his chest and looked at me. I 

didn’t like when he did that. He usually started arguments when he 

looked at me like that. I huffed and went back to scanning the 

coroner’s report in front of me for “usable” evidence.

“Well for starters, you weren’t being very inconspicuous when you 

left your pregnancy test sitting on top of the garbage can full of toilet 

paper. Really Liv? You really didn’t think I’d not notice the raging 

hormones? Besides, you’ve gained like fifteen pounds!”

I broke down giving him a pleading look. Please don’t tell Walter 

Peter. Please don’t tell him. Peter pulled me into a hug, and I let all 

the stops out on my emotions. I let the tears fall for about thirty 

seconds or so before I pulled myself together.

“Peter, please don’t tell Walter. I don’t want him to know. Not yet 

at least. I’ll tell him when the time is right. Just not now...”

Peter stroked my cheek with his thumb. He’d always managed to 

have such soft hands. Now how did I land such a handsome man 

with the total package that included soft hands? His expression was 

one of concern.

“You know this changes everything Olivia. I thought you were going 

on the pill until we were sure we wanted to start a family. What’d 

you do? Skip a day?”

I covered my hand over my mouth and flashed an angry look at him. 

Peter you aren’t helping any! I slammed my hand on the desk and 

glared at him more, my nostrils flaring because I was so angry.

“Well what do you want me to say Peter? Honest mistake! (Holds 

cheek in palm of hand) And damn this stupid toothache!”

Peter grabbed onto my arm and led me out into the lab. I was still 

upset with him. Walter and Astrid were now looking at us with 

concerned looks on their faces. I ignored them as Peter kept his hold 

on my arm. Walter was the first to speak as we made our way 

towards the door.

“Where are you and Agent Dunham going son?”

I wasn’t in the mood for Walter’s prying right now. I just wanted to 

get to the dentist and get my tooth looked at, and then to the doctors. 

Peter set his jaw when he looked at his father. I didn’t want to mess 

with that, so I just kept my mouth shut.

“Dentist Walter. Olivia has a toothache.”

As soon as we got outside the Kresge building and to the car, I pulled 

my arm from Peter’s grip. I was still upset with him. This time 

though, I didn’t know if it was because of my excruciating 

toothache, or my raging hormones. Either way, Peter and I both 

knew that I was in no condition to drive right now. I slid into the 

passenger’s seat, putting my seatbelt on. That’s when it happened, 

again. I broke down and began to cry. Peter was about to turn the 

car on, but stopped when he noticed. He took my face in his hands 

and wiped the tears away. My voice was shaking as I spoke.

“Peter, I’m so scared...”

He placed as kiss on my forehead and when he pulled away his eyes 

were filled to the brim with tears. I didn’t want him to cry, it’d only 

make me cry even more. Raging hormones or not, I was a mess. 

Even Peter couldn’t deny that.

“It’s okay sweetheart. We’ll figure out what the hell is going on with 

you. I’ll take you to the dentist first so we can get that tooth looked 

at. Then to the doctors to confirm this. Either way, you know I’ll 

always love you ‘Livia. Never forget that. If it makes you feel any 

better, I’m scared too. This is all new to us. We just need to take it 

one step at a time. Now just relax. Try to see if you can sleep, 

maybe it’ll help on the drive there.”

I nodded my head taking a deep breath to calm my nerves. You can 

do this Dunham. Pull it together soldier! Pull it together! I tilted 

the seat back, and surprisingly, I fell into a comfortable slumber. All 

this arguing has worn me out. It was a peaceful ride to the dentist. 

As I got out of the car, Peter took my hand. Then he whispered in 

my ear.

“I’m sorry about the fifteen pounds crack I made at you. It was very 

insensitive of me. I’m really sorry.”

I couldn’t stay mad at a face like that. His puppy eyes always got me 

when he pleaded. I pulled him in for a kiss. When we broke apart, 

he took my hand again and squeezed it comfortingly. We walked 

into the dentist’s office and up to the front desk.

“Excuse me ma’am? I need to see a dentist. I’ve got a really bad 

toothache.”

The woman behind the desk smiled at me sympathetically and 

reached her hand across the top of the desk for my insurance card. I 

didn’t have an appointment though. Should I flash my badge? No, 

that’d be bribery Dunham! Shame on you! 

“Do you have an appointment?”

I shook my head no, and she pointed over to a row of chairs we 

could sit in and wait. I didn’t like the waiting game. I sighed heavily 

but retreated to the row of chairs over in the play area since all the 

others were taken. Peter sat down with me. The only chairs left 

were child-size chairs. Bored and annoyed, I picked up a clump of 

yellow play-doh and tried to make something out of it. A hand of a 

small child grabbed a small chunk from the table. I smiled at her. She 

had the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen. They were like 

emeralds shimmering in the sun. She smiled at Peter and me, 

giggling.

“Are you somebody’s mommy and daddy?”

My face turned red and Peter only laughed a little. Shaking his head 

at me, he smiled some more. Peter and I got up, hand-in-hand when 

a doctor called my name.

“Olivia Dunham?”

When we got to the doctor he stuck his hand out for both of us to 

shake. I shook hands with him first. Then Peter followed suit behind 

me. I told him the truth about how I was feeling.

“I had never felt anything like it before today. My tooth wasn’t 

bothering me until I got to work. At first I was thinking it was just an 

inflamed gum line, but now I’m not so sure...”

The doctor in front of Peter and I nodded his head seriously as I sat 

down in the dentist’s chair. I loved how comfortable these chairs 

were, but my mind was wandering somewhere it really shouldn’t 

right now.

“Okay Olivia, let’s take a look then shall we?”

I nodded my head and opened up my mouth so he could look in my 

mouth. I kept my head straight but watched as a short man with dark 

brown hair, eyes and round-rimmed glasses stepped into the room 

carrying a tray full of tools the dentist would need. An involuntary 

shiver ran down my spine. I watched the dentist as he picked up a 

tool that looked like one you cleaned your teeth with. I felt him stick 

it in my mouth. He lightly touched all my teeth on the bottom. 

Obviously, my bottom teeth don’t hurt. I was fine with everything 

that was going on until he touched my molar in my upper left of my 

mouth. A muffled cry escaped my lips.

“Ouch!”

He looked at me apologetically and took the pik out of my mouth 

and took a tiny mirror, sticking that in my mouth, turning it so that 

he could look at my tooth. I felt him press on it annoyingly hard with 

his enormous finger. He finally took it out and explained his findings 

to both Peter and I.

“I don’t see anything physically wrong with the tooth. Not even a 

dark spot where a cavity should be. You’re teeth could have just 

shifted too. I think we should take some x-rays of your teeth to see 

just what we’re dealing with here.”

Peter shook his head no at the doctor. I couldn’t get any x-rays done 

because I was pregnant. Though the radiation amount was relatively 

low, it still would have adverse effects on the fetus growing inside of 

me.

“Actually doctor, she can’t get an x-ray right now. She’s pregnant.”

The doctor in front of me, his smiled fell. His assistant was pulling 

him towards the door and into the hallway. But not before he could 

say something to me.

“Well congratulations. To the both of you.”

His assistant succeeded in pulling him outside to the hallway. I 

looked at Peter with nervous eyes. I didn’t like the vibes coming off 

this dentist, and yet I couldn’t put my finger on why. I could hear 

the two arguing about something in the hallway. Something that sent 

chills of fear down my back for some reason.

“You took a pregnant woman and gave her how much anesthetic?”

We heard crashing noises from the hallway. Peter and I took that as 

our queue to leave the dentist’s office for good. He helped me up 

from the chair and slipped out the door. We made our way back to 

the front and out the doors to the car. Peter waited until we were 

buckled in and driving before either of us said anything.

“Peter, I didn’t like that dentist. He was giving me the creeps. And 

he kept looking me up and down, like he were sizing me up. And did 

you see the look on his face when you told him that I was pregnant? 

Like I ruined some plan he had in mind. Something about his 

business seems a little shady. Did you happen to hear what his name 

was when we went out the door?”

Peter nodded but kept his eyes on the road. Apparently, the dentist 

had made him nervous too. Not just me. I took a deep breath to 

calm my racing heart. Easy there Dunham. You’ve got a child to 

protect here. 

“Yeah you and me both ‘Livia. Yes I did actually. A doctor 

Anderson. When we get back to the lab after we visit the doctor’s 

run his name through the database to see if his business coincides 

with any shady dealings or has any kind of malpractice suit against 

him.”

I nodded my head swallowing, trying to relax myself. This has 

certainly been a rough day for me. I don’t know how much more I 

can take. I tipped the seat back and closed my eyes again, 

unintentionally placing my hands over my stomach. I managed to 

doze all the way to the doctor’s office, waking only to Peter’s hand 

shaking my shoulder.

“Hey, we’re here. You know, I can wait out in the waiting room if 

you’d like. But I’d rather you not do this alone. I know you too well 

Olivia Dunham. You’re going to need a shoulder to lean on. And that 

shoulder happens to be me, your loving and adorable husband.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at Peter. Smart ass. How could 

he be such a smart ass at a time like this? When I was the most 

vulnerable? I took my seatbelt off and opened up the door. Peter 

was there instantly to help me out, helping me over a large pot hole 

by my door. I was nervous now. My nervousness was feeding into 

Peter now.

“I am right here Liv. I won’t leave you. Even as nervous as I am 

right now. It’ll all work out for the best.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Congratulations Olivia. You’re pregnant.”

The words that Doctor Carston said in front of me rang in my ears 

like a gun shot. I can’t do this right now. I just can’t! She handed 

me a manila folder with my results in it, leaving Peter and I alone to 

review them. I found myself rifling through the papers several times 

trying to wrap my head around all of it. I dropped the folder onto the 

counter and let Peter fold me into his arms. His hands moving up 

and down my back in circular motions. I wasn’t ready to be a 

mother yet. I turned to Peter, still not accepting the whole situation in 

front of me.

“No Peter! I’m not accepting this! I’m not ready to be a mother yet! 

I can't deal with this right now! Granted it was my fault for skipping 

a couple of days on my birth control pills but...”

Peter was surprised at me, but still confused at the same time. He 

had no idea what I was even going through right now. My emotional 

state was fragile. All I wanted to do right now was focus on finding 

out where they hell these headache’s were coming from.

“ ‘Livia, this baby isn’t unwanted. Think of the little girl back in the 

dentist’s office. I could see in your eyes then that you wanted to 

keep this baby. We have to move past this now. We have enough 

love to share with this baby. Remember I’m here for you. You don’t 

have to do this alone.”

To Be Continued...


	3. Seizures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters.

December 16th, 2010

It’s been a month and neither Peter nor I have told Walter 

anything of my being pregnant. It’s better that way. Broyles knows, 

but I told him to keep it hush-hush. I didn’t know how long I was 

going to be able to hide it. I’ve already outgrown five sets of clothes 

in my closet. My feet and ankles are swollen so it makes it difficult 

to walk. Weirdest thing about this is I’ve been craving Twinkies and 

cheese. Normally, I would shun the thought of Twinkies and cheese 

together, but being pregnant changes everything. A knock on the 

door startled me out of my thoughts.

“Come in.”

The door opened up and Peter’s head popped around the corner. I 

smiled brightly as he held a brown paper bag in his hand. He shut the 

door quickly and set it down on the desk in front of me. I was about 

to snatch for it, but Peter took it from me. I got tears in my eyes and 

was about to cry.

“Peter! Give me my food! I’m hungry! (Lowers voice) You 

wouldn’t deny a pregnant woman her meal would you?”

The dark look I gave Peter was just enough for him to drop the 

brown paper bag into my hands. I ripped the bag apart, spilling the 

contents of it all over the desk. Twinkies and cheddar cheese. Just 

what I wanted. I tore open both the Twinkie package and the cheese 

and put them together. I devoured them in two seconds flat. I’d be 

paying for it later though. Cheddar gave me terrible gas. He pointed 

towards the door.

“Look Liv, we’ve been called in to bring a body back to the lab. Up 

for a little drive?”

I nodded my head, as long as I could have my cheddar and 

Twinkies... That’s all I cared about at the moment. I found another 

brown paper bag and stuffed my goodies into them following Peter 

out into the lab.

“I hope you and Agent Dunham are on your way to pick up that 

body.”

My face a mask of pure calm, Peter led me out the door and into the 

hallway. Walter looked at me for a moment. Does he know my 

secret? I sure as hell hope not! Before I could shut the door, Walter 

blurted out what was on his mind.

“My, my, agent Dunham. You are looking quite radiant. Good 

coloring in your cheeks, and you look as if you’ve gained a good 

twenty pounds. Now are you absolutely sure your not...”

Peter rescued me and told me to keep walking down the hallway. I 

complied not wanting to hear anymore of Walter’s ridiculous 

accusations, though they were true. I sat on a bench in another 

hallway. I heard a door slam somewhere down another hallway. 

Peter came down the hallway, practicing calm. Either that, or he was 

about to be sick.

“Don’t worry Liv. He doesn’t know yet. But you’ve got to tell him 

sooner rather than later. You’re already starting to show, and that’ll 

give it away if you don’t wear your coat.”

I pulled my coat over me protectively rather than to keep out the 

cold once we got outside. I fumbled in my pocket for my keys. I 

finally found them and opened up the door. Opening up the door to 

the car, I got in. I took a deep breath before I put my seatbelt on. 

Something didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel like myself. I shook my 

head and started the car. As soon as I put the car into gear, my mind 

went blank, and I couldn’t see a thing in front of me...

 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I turned to Olivia to find that her foot was all the way down on the 

accelerator and we were going at least seventy five. She was driving 

erratically. She was steering every which way. I yelled at her before 

I could figure out just what was going on.

“Olivia! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!”

I managed to get her foot off the accelerator and hit the brakes 

stopping the car. I put the car into park and turned it off. I nearly 

jumped out of the car and stumbled my way to the driver’s side. I 

ripped open the door and watched Olivia’s form for a minute. She’s 

so stiff! Okay, she’s foaming at the mouth, so that must mean Gran 

Mal seizure! ********! I unbuckled her seatbelt and set her down on the 

grass wrapped up in the purple blanket I’d found in the back of the 

truck. I made sure she was far enough away from anything she may 

hurt herself on. I had to get some help for her. And fast.

“Somebody help! Somebody call 9-1-1! Please! My wife is having a 

seizure! Please somebody call 9-1-1!”

I knew I shouldn’t move Olivia, but I wanted to make sure she was 

okay. Even though I knew she wasn’t. Come on baby. Come back to 

me. You can do it. Please don’t leave me. Tears sprang from my 

eyes as her body continued to convulse and spasm.

“It’s okay baby. I’m right here. Come on Olivia. Come back to me. 

You can do it. Come on baby. Please don’t leave me.”

Within ten minutes, paramedics had arrived. Olivia, still convulsing 

and spasiming, I didn’t know what to do. I was really afraid to ask 

the paramedics who were working on her, how she was doing. I 

swallowed trying to be brave.

“How’s she uh, how’s she doing guys?”

One of the paramedic’s looked at me seriously. There was 

something in his eyes that resembled pity. I didn’t like it. That was 

something I didn’t need right now. I watched Olivia as she clenched 

and unclenched her fists. Then suddenly, she stopped seizing and 

opened up her eyes.

“You’re going to be okay now.”

She was confused about what I was saying to her. She had no idea 

what had happened to her. Well, why would she? People who have 

seizures normally don’t remember them. The paramedic spoke up in 

a concerned tone of voice, while the other one started an IV line.

“Mr. Bishop, does your wife have a history of seizures? Particularly 

Gran Mal’s?”

I shook my head. Not that I knew of. My mind concentrated on one 

single thing. The tank. This had to be a side effect from the tank. 

Why was the tank causing this to happen? I rubbed a hand over my 

face.

“No. Not that I know of. Nothing like this runs in her family. Be 

careful what you give her. She’s pregnant.”

The paramedics took note of it and adjusted the wiring and IV push 

in her arm. I watched as Olivia grabbed for my hand and squeezed it 

tight. Her groans of pain about killed me. Her eyes found mine and 

they were filled with worry and fear.

“Peter, something’s wrong! It’s hurts!”

She held onto my hand tighter and tried turning onto her side, 

holding her abdomen in pain. My face paled as she was going 

through this. I tried to pull myself together and be brave, if not for 

me, for Olivia. Please god, please don’t let it be the baby. Though I 

knew the inevitable was coming. I looked away as blood began to 

soak the bottom of the sheet down by Olivia’s legs. The paramedic 

who had been adjusting her IV grabbed a pile of several towels and 

placed them under the blood-soaked sheet between Olivia’s legs.

“Mr. Bishop, I’m going to need you to keep your wife calm. 

Stopping the bleeding is what’s really important right now; it’ll only 

make it worse if she’s upset. Understand?”

Oh I understood perfectly. My only problem here was we were 

losing our baby! Both Olivia and I were losing a son or daughter. 

It doesn’t seem right that the heavens had chosen to take this 

innocent life away from us at such a crucial point in he or she’s 

development. I did my best to keep Olivia calm, but her screams 

were piercing and they seemed to send shivers right down to my 

very core. I wrapped my arms around her and tried to feel for the 

slight bulge of her stomach to make myself feel better. This wasn’t 

getting any easier.

“Shh ‘Livia. Everything’s going to be okay. We can get through this. 

Just like we always do. Relax. I’m right here. I won’t let anything or 

anyone hurt you. Don’t cry sweetheart.”

Her screams were somewhat less piercing for the soul as she listened 

to my words. She was paler than usual, but my mind was focusing 

on keeping her calm. I let my tears fall as my hand seemed to stay in 

place over her stomach, rubbing it in smaller circular motions. Olivia 

found a small space to put her hand next to mine and cried more, but 

by now, her screams were nothing more than hiccups and whimpers. 

I tried to ignore the paramedics who were working on her, but at the 

same time I couldn’t look away. The paramedic in front of Olivia, 

his face was red and full of frustration. I grimaced as the first pile of 

towels came out dark with blood and in went another set. He looked 

over to his partner, who looked new to the job. Rookie. 

“Robert! Would you quit staring off into space and get some more 

towels? I think I’ve almost got the bleeding under control.”

The paramedic named Robert shoved drawers open and closed 

trying to find anymore towels that they would need. But seemingly 

finding none, he looked back to his fellow partner, defeated.

“Jack, there aren’t any more left. I gave you the last of the stash we 

had. How... How full are those towels getting? Is the bleeding 

slowing? Or getting heavier?”

Jack shook his head no and turned back to Olivia. I watched Olivia’s 

eyes fluttering open and closed several times. When she opened 

them again, the light and excitement had gone from them. Then I 

knew; our baby was gone. She looked up at me, tears threatening to 

course down her beautiful face, but she held them back, a weak 

smile on her face.

“You know Peter; I had a dream about her last night. She was 

beautiful. She had a wonderful glowing light all around her. She had 

curly sausage ringlets, your crooked smile, and those beautiful green 

eyes like that little girl from the dentist’s office. She was about five 

and she said to me: ‘Mommy, don’t worry, everything will be okay.’ 

And then she flew away. We’ve lost her Peter. Her little soul flew 

away to the heavens and there is nothing we can do to get her 

back.”

I could hear the anger, confusion and sadness in her voice. I could 

not imagine what her body must be going through right now. But I 

knew this: we had both lost a baby. Both of us were hurting. Both of 

the paramedic’s looked at us with sadness in their eyes. We could 

handle it.

“We’ve managed to get the bleeding completely under control and 

stopped Mr. Bishop. But I’m sorry to inform you of this, your wife 

miscarried your child. I am very sorry for your loss.”

That did it for the both of us. Olivia leaned into my chest and let out 

a long sorrowful sob. Her body was being wracked with sobs. I 

myself let the tears fall. This was the first heartbreaking one since we 

were married. In between sobbing fits, I spoke up.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have another one. I promise.”

I had been holding everything in, and now I felt like Olivia, 

vulnerable in every way. I could not imagine what women go 

through when they experience this. Walter would no doubt realize 

this by the look in Olivia’s eyes. It tore me apart to realize that Olivia 

and I had just lost something so important and precious to us, our 

baby. 

 

To Be Continued...


	4. Headaches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters.

December 18th, 2010

Two days I’ve been in the hospital, and I haven’t told Walter a thing 

about what happened. He hasn’t really been around to see me 

because Peter told him to give me some space. He’d obviously been 

getting worried and wanted to see me. To make sure I was doing 

okay. I feel like a lab rat. Doctors and nurses have been poking and 

prodding at me trying to figure out just what kind of seizure I had 

and what caused it. Peter popped his head around the door as he 

opened it. He gave me a tired smile, but it was one of hope. I gave 

him a weak smile back.

“Walter has been asking about you again. Do you think you feel like 

talking to him today?”

I nodded my head; he needed to know the truth. It wasn’t right for 

me to hide it from him now, even after the fact. Peter opened the 

door all the way revealing Walter on the other side. The smile on his 

face filled me with a sense of hope. Things were going to be okay. 

He approached me carefully, not wanting to be scared off by me.

“Agent Dunham, I’m so glad you are feeling better. (Looks Walter in 

the eye) Has something happened? The light has gone from your 

eyes. You had a sparkle about them a couple of days ago, and you 

were so full of life. I honestly can’t say I’ve seen you that happy 

before. You’ve lost something haven’t you?”

I nodded once more and tried not to let the tears come down, but it 

was already too late, the floodgates had opened up and now I was 

bawling. Peter came over and pulled me into his arms. But I kept 

looking at Walter.

“Walter, I know I should have told you this a long time ago. Peter 

and I should have both told you, but I was too afraid to. I was 

pregnant Walter. I lost the baby a couple of days ago. It happened 

right after I had that seizure.”

Walter’s face fell, but he understood. He seemed to be 

contemplating what I had just told him. Peter pulled away, and I 

knew that his father could see the tears in his eyes. He wiped them 

away before any could fall. Walter was here, and yet he seemed so 

far away, as if he were lost.

“Believe me Olivia; nobody knows the heartache of losing a child 

more than I do. I know how you feel.”

Peter gave Walter a strange but nasty look. Neither of us knew what 

Walter was talking about, and hoped that it was just one of his 

rantings again. One of the many things about Walter that I still hadn’t 

fully gotten used to. Peter whispered in my ear.

“Everything will be alright ‘Livia. This is just another hurdle to go 

over. I’m here for you. I know the last couple of days haven’t been 

easy for the both of us, and you felt like shutting me out trying to 

deal with it on your own, but I know that eventually you won’t pent 

up all those tears inside you. You don’t have to be so strong all the 

time. I’m right here next to you. I’m your support beams. Lean on 

me when you need to lean on someone.”

Peter had made sense. Sometimes I was still so preoccupied about 

my job, #1 that I was too afraid to see what I had right in front of 

me. Peter had seen past my shortcomings. He’d really cared about 

me, enough not to betray me. His love for me had been real. Unlike 

John who had said all those things, after sleeping with each other 

several times, he never meant them. He had just been using me. 

Bitter thoughts were thrown aside as the throbbing in my head began 

to flare up. Soon it felt like an explosive had gone off in my head, or 

rather a jackhammer drilling into my head. I grabbed onto my head 

and moaned. Not another migraine! I yelled to Peter, tears falling 

faster than a mini waterfall.

“MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE MAKE THE PAIN JUST ALL GO 

AWAY!”

This was the second time that I was getting these strange headaches 

that more accurately resembled a migraine than anything else I had 

ever experienced before. Peter’s palms were cupping my cheeks 

looking into my eyes trying to find comfort in them. I was in too 

much pain to even register Walter’s voice.

“Agent Dunham, can you tell me what kind of pain it is you are 

feeling in your head? Is it more of a tension headache? Or something 

else?”

Truth was, this headache was driving me insane! The effects it was 

having on me, I couldn’t explain it. I felt like my brain was swelling, 

like when someone gets a concussion. Through my fuzzy vision, I 

could see a doctor come into the room. Maybe he could give me 

some stronger medication that would counteract the effects of this 

‘monster migraine.’ The pen light he flashed into my eyes was 

unbearable. It was like seeing a bolt of lightning before my eyes. 

Seeing white spots, I frantically tried finding Peter so that I could 

grab onto him. A nurse injected something into the IV bag I was 

attached to. I was leaning back against my pillows, but Peter was 

holding my hands now.

“Don’t worry Olivia that headache should start going away. We’ve 

just given you some liquid Ibuprofen. I’ve already ordered a CAT 

scan of your brain to make sure this isn’t a tumor or brain lesions. 

We’ll be back in a couple of hours to take you upstairs. You should 

get some rest.”

It took a few minutes for the drugs to kick in, but once they did, my 

eyes began to droop and I felt Peter’s arms wrap around my waist. I 

smiled and snuggled into him. One of his hands brushed up against 

my cheek gently. I opened up my eyes to find his eyes full of worry 

again.

“Olivia, you’re burning up! You’re eyes are glossy looking.”

I hadn’t noticed I’d had a fever. But these headaches or migraines 

could be causing them. That made absolutely no sense though. 

Peter’s worried expression pierced me to my very soul. He reached 

over for something in a bowl and rinsed out what sounded like 

water. I looked around the room bleary-eyed. Walter had left the 

room to give Peter and I some privacy. A cool cloth was placed over 

my forehead and I welcomed it with the greatest of pleasures. I 

sighed in relief as Peter moved it over my forehead with gentle 

hands. I licked my parched lips in silence, relishing this moment of 

complete tranquility.

“Hmm... Peter that feels wonderful. You have no idea just how 

wonderful it does feel...”

Peter shot me a look of amusement and laughed light-heartedly at 

me. He knew where I was going with this. But did I care to share? I 

think not... I’d keep him guessing. Being a tease for Peter was 

relatively easy. I had him completely wrapped around my finger 

when I wanted to.

“Care to share your thoughts with the class sweetheart?”

I shook my head, wagging my finger at him. Nuh uh. No way. If he 

was going to drag the word sweetheart out sounding out every 

single syllable, he wasn’t getting any dessert. Absolutely none at 

all. I smirked, he had no idea what had gotten into me had he? Well, 

I think maybe it’s the raging fever running its course through my 

veins.

“Just for dragging out the word sweetheart, you don’t get any dessert 

from me. And you don’t get to know what I was thinking. Unless 

you wanted to play a little game. Then I’d be willing to play along 

and tell you what I was thinking.”

I didn’t know why I liked to play games with Peter where I played 

hard-to-catch. But Peter loved them. But I knew all that would have 

to wait. I tried keeping my mind off the baby we’ve just lost, but it’s 

very hard, seeing that only two days have gone by since it happened. 

I let the tears fall again, knowing that Peter was feeling the same. He 

pulled me into another hug and kissed my hair. Though I had been 

so hesitant about this recent baby, I’d loved her with all my heart. It 

had taken me a little while to accept what I was going through, but 

once I had accepted it, I knew that Peter and I would be happy 

raising our first baby together. I’d had everything planned out 

already. I’d felt so alive even in the briefest time when that small 

being was growing inside of my womb.

“Peter, you know I never really accepted having a baby at first. I 

know I fought it with all my being because we hadn’t planned it to 

be so soon. This wasn’t planned, but once I had accepted it, it felt 

wonderful. It made me feel alive and knowing that I was carrying 

something living inside of me made me feel whole. You and I made 

this baby together and losing her was the hardest thing for me. I had 

already planned out everything once I had accepted this baby. Now I 

can’t live without that baby. But I don’t really have a choice do I 

Peter?”

Peter regarded me with such caring eyes, ones that were different 

than I was used to. Had he felt what I had been going through? I 

knew that sometimes men often went through sympathetic 

pregnancies with their wives and felt what they were feeling. But I 

don’t know if Peter went through that.

“You know I had imagined something of a similar fashion. But we 

were having a boy. You decided that you loved my name so much 

that you named our son that too. The pregnancy was relatively 

smooth and when you gave birth to him it was almost painless. He 

came out of you screaming at the top of his lungs. But as soon as the 

doctor placed him in your arms he quieted.”

I smiled at him and then smirked; he was only trying to make me 

feel better. It was his way of trying to cheer me up. Though I smiled 

at him, my smile was sad. It would take weeks to get over this. My 

face paled as I remembered I had to get a CAT scan of my brain. I 

didn’t like small places. I was very claustrophobic.

“Peter I don’t want a CAT scan. I’m afraid of small places.”

Peter’s thumbs caressed my cheeks for a moment.

“Don’t worry ‘Livia, I will be right there with you. I can’t be in the 

actual room with you because the doctors won’t let me, but I’ll be 

right on the other side. I’ll keep talking to you through the intercom 

system. It’ll be alright.”

I had to be brave. Being a baby about this wasn’t helping. When had 

I become so weak? It wasn’t easy for me to accept things. Oh god... 

Baby... I found myself in tears once more, mourning the loss of my 

child. I found it more and more difficult to look Peter in the eye, but 

yet again, he knew what I was feeling. I took a shaking breath in, 

running my hand through my messy locks of blond hair, giving Peter 

a weak smile. But the sadness in my eyes only amplified his own 

feelings of loss. Or was it despair? I couldn’t tell, because his face at 

the moment was so hard to read.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peter’s hand gripped mine tightly for a few seconds before the 

doctor next to me put me into the CAT scan machine. I swallowed 

hard once I was inside. I felt like bursting into tears once again. But 

then I heard Peter’s voice over the intercom in the other room.

“You doing alright in there ‘Livia?”

I nodded my head, though I knew that wasn’t the truth, even for me. 

Thinking quickly wouldn’t keep the tears from coming, even if I’d 

tried. They’d come anyways, fast and with the fury of ten thousand 

bee stings. My head was starting to pound again. Since I was 

supposed to lie completely still, I couldn’t hold my head in my 

hands. I tried my best to lie still while the machine was finishing up 

scanning me, but the pain in my head was so bad now that I felt like 

I was blacking out. After awhile, I didn’t see or hear anymore. When 

I woke again, I was back in my hospital bed. Peter was next to it, 

holding my hand. He gave me a smile like I had never seen before.

“Morning sunshine. While you were out, I spoke to the doctors. 

They showed me your brain scans. They didn’t find any kind of 

bleeding or tumor. That is the good news. But that doesn’t explain 

why you’re getting these awful headaches. Maybe Walter can figure 

this out. The longer you stay in this hospital, the bigger the bill will 

be. I’m busting you out of here today.”

How was Peter going to bust me out of this place? I knew the 

doctors were going to want to do more tests on me. But I wasn’t 

getting much sleep with all the prodding and poking all the time. It 

was starting to drive me crazy. Constantly getting blood samples 

taken from me was taking its toll on me.

“Peter, you know these doctors won’t let me go that easily. And if 

you haven’t noticed, lately when I’m walking I’ve been losing my 

balance for no reason. If I must leave this hospital, then I want 

Walter to convince them of it. He’s the only one that can help figure 

out what’s wrong with me. Please do this for me.”

I smacked my lips together a few times trying to figure out the taste I 

was tasting in my mouth. Whatever it was, it tasted terrible. I slid my 

tongue over my teeth to see if maybe it had something to do with 

that. My tongue found my back left molar, and came across some 

sort of wire. What the hell? My eyes grew wide as I felt it with my 

tongue more. Where the hell did this come from? I slid my tongue to 

the other side of my mouth. Sure enough, there sticking out of my 

right back molar on the top of my mouth was the same kind of 

wiring. What the hell is going on here? My eyes grew wide and fear 

began to twist and knot inside my stomach. It wasn’t a good feeling. 

Peter’s face showed concern.

“ ‘Livia, what is it? What’s wrong? Something wrong with your 

mouth?”

Something wrong with my mouth was a complete understatement. I 

stuck my thumb and index finger into my mouth and tried pulling on 

the wire, only hurting myself in the process.

“OUCH! (Takes fingers out of mouth) Peter you need to get me 

back to Walter. I don’t know what this is, but, there are a couple of 

wires in my mouth. One in each of my top molars on the left and 

right back. They are stuck in there pretty good. I think I may have a 

theory as to where my headaches are coming from.”

Peter’s face grew with worry. He made me open up my mouth so 

that I could show him. His fingers lightly touched the wiring in my 

upper left molar. I winced and he took his fingers out of my mouth.

“Where the hell did those come from ‘Livia? Who could have done 

this to you? More importantly: when did this happen?”

This was just getting weird. I had seen plenty of weird cases over the 

last two years, but nothing that involved myself. I wanted these 

wires, or whatever they were out of me. I didn’t want to experience 

anymore pain from it. Little did I know, it would get a whole lot 

worse from here on out.

To Be Continued...


	5. Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters.

December 21st, 2010

Where was I? What was I doing here? Who are all these people? I 

was lying on some sort of operating table. A doctor or maybe a 

dentist was inserting some kind of wired device into my left upper 

molar. I was heavily sedated. It was too dark to see any faces but 

one voice sounded familiar.

“Are you sure those sedatives we gave agent Dunham are safe for 

the fetus she’s carrying inside her?”

I woke up with a start, breathing heavily. I felt Peter’s arm snake 

around my waist and pull me to him protectively.

“You okay?”

I freed myself from Peter’s grip and swung my legs over the side of 

the bed, trying to rid my mind of the nightmares plaguing me. The 

thought of that man mentioning our baby brought tears to my eyes. 

When was I going to stop crying about that? But I had to 

remember, I was giving myself some time to grieve. Grieving was a 

natural human response when something is lost. Peter sat up next to 

me and pulled me into his arms. I loved his strong arms. They were 

protecting me against all the weird and dangerous in the world.

“I’m fine Peter. It’s nothing. Actually, I keep having these recurring 

nightmares. It’s kind of creepy. I’m in a warehouse, but it’s not clear 

where the location is. It’s very dark and I can’t see the faces that are 

around me because I’m heavily sedated. A dentist is inserting some 

sort of chip into my left molar and his assistant said something about 

was it safe to give me the sedatives they were giving me because I 

was carrying a child. How the hell could they possibly have known I 

was pregnant before I even knew?”

Peter rubbed my back to comfort me. I hoped that nothing would 

come of these dreams and that they were just that. Dreams. If they 

were memories, then I was in some serious trouble. I leaned up 

against Peter, deep in thought. What did all this mean anyways? I 

was startled out of my thoughts when Peter voiced his own.

“If that’s what really happened to you, then we’ll need to tell 

Broyles about this. Besides, why would they want to take you, put 

some sort of chip in your teeth, and then send you back? This has 

the markings of ZFT all over it Olivia. I’ll wake Walter and let him 

know what’s going on. We’ll get those chips out of your teeth. 

Walter has got to know some way to get them out of your teeth 

without hurting you. I want him to check your balance too. It seems 

like you’ve been losing your balance more lately. Maybe it has 

something to do with the chips in your teeth.”

I wanted to go with Peter when he told Walter. Peter steadied me as 

I got to my feet. Maybe I wasn’t going to lose my balance today 

after all. I felt bad that I was ruing the holiday spirit in this house.

“I’m sorry I’m putting a damper on everyone’s holiday spirit. It’s 

only four days until Christmas and my “condition” isn’t helping 

anyone in this house. Can’t you just get Walter to pull my two 

effected teeth or something? I honestly don’t want to be having these 

headaches and nightmares anymore. It’s ruining my mood. I’m 

trying to be more optimistic about things. Can’t sulk forever you 

know. If those two are working for ZFT, I want to catch these guys. 

Did you get a chance to interview some of the patients from Doctor 

Anderson’s office?”

Peter cracked one of his famous genuine smiles at me. I was trying 

to be my normal chipper self. It was getting my mind off everything 

that was happening. It helped to know that I had Peter by my side 

no matter what happened. I don’t know what had even possessed 

me to live a life of isolation outside of work. Sure I’d had Ella and 

Rachel to keep me company, but not a man. John had been the 

closest thing. Then came Peter. Peter was a breath of fresh air. 

Someone I hadn’t known I’d fallen in love with in the first place until 

I was kissing him one night after a few drinks. Hidden feelings for 

him normally kept deep within the recesses of my brain away from 

peoples prying.

“Now that’s the Olivia we all know and love. The Olivia I’ve always 

loved. You know it always surprises me the way you said you loved 

me. Those couple tequila shots really got to you. You know, you’ve 

always been beautiful. I think the first time I fell for you was when 

we first met in Iraq. You had the most beautiful green eyes I had 

ever seen, and your laugh. Your laugh could set everything in the 

room on fire. It was contagious.”

I blushed at Peter. He still knew how to flatter me. Even when I 

wasn’t feeling all that great. Even with my nightmares, I felt like 

things were going to go better for me. This family has had its share 

of weirdness and horrors over the past couple of years. Trouble 

always seemed to find me no matter what I did. Either working or at 

home. I quickly found a pantsuit that still fit my less-than-girlish 

form. Peter gave me a playful smile.

“I don’t know how you do it Dunham, but you manage to still pull 

off being sexy in that drab grey pantsuit of yours you like to wear 

every day. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about 

it that turns me on.”

I laughed and shook my head. The time for games would be later. 

For now, we needed to focus on the task at hand. Finding the men 

behind putting these chips into my teeth was top priority. Nothing 

else mattered right now. By now we were standing in front of 

Walter’s door. I was debating whether I should knock on his door or 

not. I took the plunge anyways and knocked. Walter opened up the 

door all the way, only to reveal that he had nothing on. I turned 

away from him, my face four different shades of red.

“Walter, would you mind putting some um, clothes on? I need to 

talk to you. It’s kind of important.”

Walter stared at me for a moment then looked down and realized 

what I was telling him.

“Oh, yes, yes. Of course Agent Dunham. Let me get some clothes. 

I’ll be out momentarily.”

As Walter closed his door, I turned to Peter my face still as red as a 

tomato. Shaking my head, I put my hands on my hips. Something 

had to be done about Walter walking around the house ‘in-the-nude’ 

all the time. After all, I had company coming over later today. Ella 

and Rachel were coming for a visit. Peter seemed to know what I 

was thinking.

“I know, we really need to do something about Walter’s walking 

around the house ‘in-the-nude’ all the time. Hey, aren’t Ella and 

Rachel supposed to come for a visit today?”

I nodded my head yes, but before I could say anything, Walter’s 

door opened to reveal a fully clothed Walter this time. I smoothed 

out my shirt, trying to cover my still slightly bulging stomach. This 

shirt had become too tight. I should probably change this. Walter 

noticed, but said nothing. We made our way down the stairs, and 

though all these weird circumstances were going on, I found the will 

inside me to smile. Peter and I had decorated the house from head to 

toe in Christmas decorations. The Christmas tree was in the corner 

by the window, with a few presents under it. Mostly for Ella and a 

few for Rachel. Walter had helped out some, putting the tinsel on the 

tree and hanging some of the ornaments on it as well. Walter had 

said: ‘this is the first time in a long time that I’ve had a Christmas 

with my family. It’s such a joy to have you as part of my family 

agent Dunham. You are a wonderful daughter.’ I smiled at the 

thought and sat down on the couch, while Walter took a stool from 

one of the corners in the room and sat down in front of me.

“Is there something you wanted to talk to me about my dear? Are 

you feeling ill?”

I nodded my head, yeah sometimes. I wanted to know if he could 

take the chips out of my teeth. That was what I was most concerned 

with right now.

“Walter, before you go poking and prodding at me to your heart’s 

content, I want to tell you that someone has put some sort of chip in 

my upper left and right molars in my mouth. Now, Peter says that 

these men that did this to me, it has ZFT written all over it. Does 

any of this sound familiar to you?”

Walter nodded his head and started to pace the room frantically, 

rattling off some random nonsense. Typical Walter. Peter was 

getting annoyed at how much Walter was pacing and not explaining 

himself. I was trying to be a more patient person with Walter.

“Belly and I worked on something similar to this. But the chips that 

we had invented were to control how one would experience their 

emotions. Uh, artificially manipulate the brain into thinking that one 

was sad or happy. It also stimulated one’s sex drive to feel even the 

most unbearable of...”

Peter cut Walter off; he knew where he was going with this 

conversation. He didn’t like it when his father talked like this, and 

neither did I for that fact, it was awkward. I tried not to give away 

the uncomfortable look on my face. So I turned towards the 

Christmas tree instead, and pretended to admire all the lights on it.

“Walter don’t even go there with that conversation. So now that we 

know that these chips in Olivia’s teeth aren’t the ones you and 

William Bell invented, can you get them out of her? Olivia thinks 

these chips may be the source of her headaches. The seizures that 

she’s been having are just a side effect from the tank. We already 

know that. One more thing, could you check her balance? She’s 

been falling a lot lately and for no reason in particular.”

Walter looked at me strangely for a moment and then made his way 

over to me, grabbing my arm and sitting me down on the couch next 

to him. I tried to pull myself out of his grip when he looked into my 

eyes.

“Walter! What the hell are you doing? What are you checking for?”

Walter shook his head at me and shined his annoying pen-light into 

my eyes. I squinted to try and avoid its effects on me. Now, seeing 

spots as he turned it off, I blinked several times to try and regain 

some of my normal eyesight.

“Just for normal pupil dilation my dear. How long have you been 

having these seizures? Have they been lasting several minutes?”

I shrugged my shoulders, how the hell was I supposed to know that? 

People who had seizures normally didn’t remember what happened 

to them. Peter gave Walter and annoyed look. I was trying to remain 

patient with the man; he was more like a curious child than anything 

else.

“Walter, we’ve been over this before. People who have seizures 

normally don’t remember what happens to them. You should know 

that. These seizures that Olivia has normally only last two or three 

minutes. No longer than that. Doctor’s can’t tell what type it is. It’s 

not identifiable by any of their standards. So this could be some new 

type of seizure disorder, and the tank caused it.”

I winced as Walter yanked on the wiring sticking out of my left 

upper molar. Now my gums were sore. Walter looked at me 

apologetically. I only looked at him expectantly.

“Well Walter, can you get these chips out of my teeth or what?”

Walter again got up from the couch and started pacing once more. 

While Peter made faces at Walter, I continued to smooth out my 

shirt over my stomach. My eyes wandered over to the Christmas 

tree, only to find that the ornamental baby booties were still up there. 

I slowly got up and tried to make my way towards the tree, but only 

feeling a dizzy spell catching onto me. Peter steadied me on my feet. 

Walter was now looking at me more concerned now.

“See Walter! This is exactly what I was talking about... She’s been 

losing her balance for absolutely no reason. It’s not caused by any 

brain tumors either. The doctors did a CAT scan on her and found 

nothing. No brain lesions or tumors. So we can rule those two things 

out. Unless it’s those chips in her teeth causing the imbalance in her 

equilibrium. Wow, these ass-holes really covered all their bases 

didn’t they?”

Walter gave Peter a dark look. He didn’t like it when Peter swore. It 

was more of a parental thing than anything else. I shook my head a 

little and tried to regain my bearings. Peter helped me back over to 

the couch while Walter chewed him out.

“Language son! What have I told you about the language? Have 

some respect, I’m your father.”

Peter rolled his eyes at Walter. I could sense a father/son battle 

brewing just below the surface of annoyance these two were giving 

off each other. I guess I should act as peacekeeper. It never failed. It 

would have to work since Astrid wasn’t here to do it.

“Seriously you two, I’m not in the mood to hear you two arguing 

over watching ones language around others. Do I have to separate 

the two of you like children? I really don’t want to give two grown 

adult men a time-out.”

Walter and Peter went quiet and kept looking at me. I laughed 

inwardly, these two were so much like children sometimes. Peter 

gave me an apologetic look and stroked my cheek with his hand.

“Sorry ‘Livia. It’s childish the way Walter and I are acting. This will 

all go away soon, and we’ll have the best Christmas ever. You’ll 

see.”

To Be Continued...


	6. Fainting Spells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters.

December 23rd, 2010

The lab had a faint musty smell to it today. Today of all days, a day 

before Christmas Eve we come to the lab for Walter to examine the 

bodies of three women whom all had chips surgically implanted into 

their teeth. I was in that same boat. Peter and Walter were not that 

far behind me, but not yet into the lab. When I reached the bottom 

step and was about to step down onto the ground below, I felt 

myself lose my balance. I tried to steady myself with the stair railing, 

but felt myself falling faster than I could reach for it. Everything was 

dark before I hit the ground.

Though I couldn’t see anything, I could hear faint voices coming into 

the lab. The first was Peter’s, and very frantic. I could feel his hands 

on my face, stroking my cheeks and saying my name trying to get 

me to open up my eyes.

“Olivia! Oh my god! Olivia, can you hear me?”

I now heard Walter’s voice as he entered the lab. Though I couldn’t 

see him, I could feel his presence next to me, leaning over me.

“Son, what happened? Did she fall and hit her head?”

I think I was unconscious, but I could still hear everyone’s faint 

voices. Peter lifted me carefully and set me down on something soft. 

Must be the couch. I felt two of his finger at my throat checking for 

a pulse. I heard him sigh in relief. He was getting frustrated with 

Walter again.

“No Walter, I don’t think she hit her head. She fainted. Got any 

smelling salt handy?”

A strong odor assaulted my nose forcing my eyes open. I sat up 

quickly, but Peter put a restraining hand on me. I grabbed my head 

to see if the throbbing would ebb. It didn’t. I cracked a weak smile at 

Peter.

“That last steps a doozy.”

Peter looked into my eyes concerned. He started checking for any 

kind of lumps on my head. I brushed my hand against his, trying to 

tell him that I was fine. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Liv, I won’t take no for an answer. You’re not alright. Not at all. 

Now what happened? Did you hit your head?”

I shook my head, at least I didn’t think I hit my head. It was hard to 

tell when I blacked out before I hit the ground. I lost my balance, 

which was part of the reason I fell off the bottom step.

“No Peter. I didn’t hit my head. At least I don’t think I did. It’s hard 

to tell. I lost my balance on the last step; I didn’t even have time to 

grab for the railing before I lost my balance. I blacked out before I 

hit the ground. These chips are really starting to scare me. I want 

them out of me.”

Walter still had a concerned look on his face. More like a worried 

face. All I wanted were these chips in my teeth out. The door to the 

lab burst open and there stood Doctor Anderson, the man I was 

determined to bring into the bureau under arrest. He smirked at me, 

with some kind of device in his hand. It looked like a remote control 

for a toy car. I grabbed onto Peter when I felt like someone had 

knocked the wind out of me. I began to cough wildly, and Peter 

handed me a glass of water, hoping to ease my coughing spell. 

Doctor Anderson laughed.

“You see, this is what I can do to you if you don’t listen Agent 

Dunham. You haven’t seen anything just yet though. There are 

many more things that can be done to you with those chips we 

implanted into your molars. The one in your upper right molar we 

recently put in a week ago was supposed to cause premature labor 

for you later on down the road. But I guess there were some 

unintended side effects to it.”

Unintended side effects!? What the hell did he mean by unintended 

side effects!? So it was his fault that I had a miscarriage in the first 

place. The chips in my teeth. I was fuming now. What I did next 

was not normally like me, but I was angry, so angry that I could 

pummel him if I wasn’t in so much pain right now. I lifted up my 

shirt to show him what was left of a baby that I missed with all my 

heart.

“You see this you son of a bitch!? This is all I have left of a baby 

that I loved very much! How could you do such a cruel thing to 

me!?”

I was in tears now, but at least I could breathe thanks to Doctor 

Anderson turning off the remote. My teeth ached, but I was too 

upset that I had fairly fresh wounds opened up again too soon. 

Peter’s eyes looked like they were on fire and about to pop out of 

his head, he was upset too. He snapped suddenly, going for 

Anderson’s throat, but went for the remote in his hands. Knocking it 

to the ground, he crushed it with his foot in one swift movement. 

Doctor Anderson only gave an evil laugh and pulled out another 

remote. So, he came prepared did he? I was not going to go insane 

by these chips in my teeth, I was going to fight back.

Bright light assaulted me suddenly. Bright flashes of light with a 

small figure standing in it. The small figure seemed to be getting 

closer to me. When she stepped into the light, I saw that her little 

face resembled my own, but with dark brown tight sausage ringlets 

and green eyes. Amy. I was surprised I could speak to her.

“Amy.”

The little girl in front of me laughed and ran into my arms. I hugged 

her tight and inhaled the wonderful smell that was her. She smelled 

of roses. She pulled away from me, and lightly touched my stomach 

sadly.

“Mommy, don’t be sad. Everything will be okay. I know this was 

me. But see, I’m happy now. I’m with grandma and grandpa. They 

miss you. They told me to tell you hi. And tell daddy that I’m okay. 

I know he’s hurting to, but tell him that I’m okay, grandpa too. 

Don’t worry about me, I’ll see you and daddy and grandpa again 

someday...”

Before I could ask her more questions she was gone... My vision 

cleared and I found Peter standing in front of me, steadying me on 

my feet. The tears in his eyes were threatening to cascade down his 

cheeks at any moment.

“ ‘Livia, who were you talking to just now?”

Wasn’t it obvious? I was talking to Amy. He noticed a change in my 

whole mood. I was finally letting go of our baby. I knew that she 

was in a better place. But was Peter ready to accept it?

“Amy, Peter. I was talking to our daughter Amy. She’s the one I 

saw in my dream a few weeks ago. She says to tell you not to 

worry, that she’s okay. She told me that my parents said hello. And 

then she told me, to tell Walter that she was fine. But that she misses 

me and you the most. She knows where she came from Peter. She 

showed me. But she says she’s happier where she is. I’ve learned to 

let her go Peter. You should too. The longer you hold onto her, the 

longer she’ll keep coming back. She’s trying to tell us to let go Peter. 

She made me understand that it was okay to be sad, but that 

everything would be okay.”

The expression on Peter’s face told me he was speechless. He had 

no idea for once, what to even say to me. The dark circles under his 

eyes told of less sleep than I’ve gotten in weeks. He shook his head 

no at first, not believing what I was saying to him. He turned back to 

Doctor Anderson and grew angry once more, forgetting all about 

what I had just told him.

“This is because of you. What have you done to my wife? You sick 

son of a bitch! You’ve broken her mind.”

Quite the contrary, my mind wasn’t broken at all. I was just seeing 

the light for the first time. Letting go of Amy hadn’t been easy, but it 

was a necessary first step in the grieving/recovery process for the 

both of us. Whether Peter was willing to accept the circumstances in 

front of him or not.

“Peter, my mind isn’t broken. I’m seeing clearly for the first time 

since we lost our baby. It’s time to let her go. She would have 

wanted it to be this way. Now, can we arrest this guy’s ass or 

what?”

Before Peter could get out of the way to let me cuff Doctor 

Anderson, he took the remote control from his hands and smashed it 

to pieces. Though somehow I don’t think that was the last remote 

control. I feared there were others. Once we brought him in for 

questioning, things would get much easier, and he’d tell us where his 

accomplices were at. Peter moved so that I could handcuff Doctor 

Anderson. He smirked at me, but I had to play bad cop here.

“Doctor Anderson, you are under arrest for assaulting and 

kidnapping a federal agent. You are also under arrest for the recent 

car bombings in downtown Boston.”

I tightened the handcuffs on Anderson’s hands to ensure that he 

could not get out of them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amy, 

standing and watching me. She was smiling, giggling as she saw 

Peter. Peter paled and looked Amy straight in the eye.

“Amy?”

Amy continued to giggle as Peter stared her down. Tears were 

coursing down his cheeks now, but he didn’t care who was watching 

him. Amy ran into his arms. Peter held her as if he were doing that 

for the first time in his life. It was his only chance. We’d never be 

able to hold her again. He too inhaled her scent of roses. Her tight 

sausage curls bobbed back and forth as she giggled shaking her head. 

She couldn’t have been more than five or six.

“Daddy, its okay to be sad. Everything will be okay now. Don’t 

worry about me. I’m in a good place. I’m with grandma and grandpa 

Dunham. They said you would be sad for a little while, but then you 

would be happy again, because mommy is going to have another 

baby. My baby sister. Please let me go daddy. Everything will be 

okay again. Believe in mommy.”

I smiled to myself as I hauled Doctor Anderson out of the lab and 

into the hallway. Believe in mommy. It was somewhat of a 

bittersweet day for Peter and I. We finally said goodbye to our baby, 

and got justice for me as well. But we still have yet to find Doctor 

Anderson’s accomplices. I’d have to question him where they were. 

Whether they were in the other world or ours was the real question 

here.

To Be Continued...


	7. Interrogations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters.

December 23rd, 2010, 3:35 p.m.

The car ride to HQ was full of insults towards me. It was a good 

thing that Peter was there to back me up. I could not wish for the 

red light in front of us to turn green fast enough. Doctor Anderson 

kicked the seat behind me like a little child. I kept my eyes on the 

light while Peter turned to him, trying to keep him restrained. Maybe 

I should let him use my tranquilizer gun. Knock that man’s ass out.

“HEY! Cut it out back there! And would you please leave my wife 

alone? She has never done anything wrong to you. If you don’t sit 

still, I am going to take this tranq gun and use it on you. So shut up 

and quit moving.”

When Anderson kept kicking my seat, Peter pulled my tranq gun 

from its holster at my right hip. With one swift movement to the 

neck, Peter knocked Anderson out. I felt him slump up against the 

back of my seat. He fixed Anderson back up against the seat he was 

sitting in the back behind me. I sighed in relief as Peter turned back 

to me.

“Thanks Peter. I thought for a second there he was going to use my 

cuffs as a means of choking me to death. I’m just glad you were 

here to back me up Peter. Really I am. I’m grateful to have you in 

my life.”

Peter’s hand momentarily snaked around mine to show that 

everything would be alright. His smile was bright for the first time in 

days. Once we got this piece of garbage in for questioning, the 

sooner we could put him away. With his fingers laced between mine, 

I didn’t take my eyes off the road, only smiling towards him. When 

we got to HQ, Doctor Anderson was placed into an interrogation 

room. An unnamed agent sat across from him. I knew most agents 

here in the federal building, but not this particular one with sandy 

blond hair and blue eyes. I stood behind the two way mirror with my 

arms crossed over my chest. I knew Doctor Anderson could feel we 

were watching him. The agent in front of him was trying very hard 

to get him to talk.

“I’m going to ask you again Doctor Anderson; where are your 

accomplices hiding? Are there anymore victims like Agent Dunham? 

If so, how many are there?”

I shook my head and smoothed out my shirt with my hands, trying 

to cover my semi-exposed stomach. This shirt had become too tight 

for me as of late. One of the many inconveniences of being 

pregnant. This wasn’t the case for me anymore. I’d have my ‘girlish’ 

figure back in no time at all. A few push-ups and crunches a day and 

I’ll be back to my normal form. Anderson smirked at the agent in 

front of him.

“You mean pregnant like agent Dunham was? Two. Another two 

Doctor Bishop has in his lab. My accomplices are somewhere you 

can’t get to them. What more can I say? What I do is a dirty 

business. But it pays well.”

This man was a terrorist through and through. Taking no for an 

answer wasn’t an answer at all to me. It was just another roadblock 

to get through. But it would take some considerable time to break 

through it. Whether literally or metaphorically speaking. It took every 

fiber in my being not to burst into the room and have at him. Yelling 

that is. My fists curled and nails digging into my skin, I suddenly felt 

Peter’s hand on my shoulder. He leaned into my ear and whispered.

“Relax sweetheart. We’re getting information out of him. He’ll go 

away for a very long time. We’ll find the others. As soon as he tells 

us the location of where those other two pregnant women are, we 

can get the ball rolling on finding them. Maybe we can get the names 

of the two women out of Doctor Anderson here.”

I nodded my head relaxing a little. I would have preferred to be in his 

embrace right now, for personal comforting reasons, but we were in 

public, and we were working. Doctor Anderson finally cracked on 

the location of the two women, and their names.

“The two women you are looking for are located in the warehouse 

district about 2 miles from here. Their names are Rochelle Mason 

and Sarah Arkinson. Both are in the last stages of their pregnancies. 

I’d hurry if I were you. Both of them could go into labor at any 

time.”

That was one step in the right direction, but that still only left us with 

one thing to figure out. Where were Anderson’s accomplices? Where 

were they hiding at? Peter left my side and went inside the 

interrogation room. I hoped he wasn’t going to get answers out of 

Doctor Anderson by breaking his fingers with a coffee mug. If he 

was, I’d go in there and stop him. It wasn’t right. I turned on the 

intercom and spoke to Peter. I was trying to persuade him not to do 

what he was about to do.

“Peter. Don’t do it. Put the coffee mug down. There are other ways 

to get the answers out of him without resorting to that. Think of me 

Peter. Think of those two women out there somewhere that are 

scared and being held captive. They need our help Peter. Please, just 

put the coffee mug down. Don’t make me come in there.”

Anderson smirked once more at me from behind the two way 

mirror. His answer made me angry with him. Shaking my head, I 

heard his answer.

“Wow, your bitch controls you doesn’t she? A real man knows how 

to control his woman.”

That did it; I stormed out of the other room and into the 

interrogation room. I about went at Anderson’s throat, but Peter held 

me back, trying to calm me. But I was on fire, metaphorically 

speaking anyways. I spit on him before I spoke up.

“For starters, don’t call me bitch, and its agent Dunham to you. And 

two; Peter doesn’t control me, I control myself. That’s not how we 

work. Now, tell us where your accomplices are at.”

An evil smile spread across Doctor Anderson’s face as he looked at 

me. I tried to look into his lap to see what he was hiding. I felt 

intense pressure in my lungs as if someone were sitting on top of me. 

Someone very heavy that is. I felt myself dropping to the floor. Peter 

was gently pulling me into his arms and was cradling me. He pushed 

the intercom button to call for help. I need oxygen. Badly. I felt like I 

was suffocating.

“I need medical attention in interview room 1 now! Hold on Liv, 

I’ve got ya. You’ll be okay. I’m right here. Just relax and breathe. 

Breathe in and out.”

It took about ten or so seconds for a medical team to come bursting 

into the room. Things were very fuzzy. I felt Peter’s gentle hold on 

me all the while, a group of security guards was grabbing a hold of 

the remote from Doctor Anderson. I felt him place an oxygen mask 

over my face. It helped a little, but I was still feeling the pressure in 

my lungs. I put a hand up to my chest, but was trying very hard to 

calm myself. Peter placed his own larger hand on top of mine. I 

could feel his evened out breathing against my body. It calmed me, 

but I wasn’t relaxed. Not until that device was turned off. The 

pained expression in my eyes bore into Peter’s. I couldn’t speak, but 

words weren’t needed for Peter to know what I was feeling.

“I know it hurts baby. Just try and relax. Let your lungs open up a 

bit. I’ve got you. I won’t let them hurt you anymore. We’ll find the 

rest of them and put ‘em away for the rest of their lives.”

I wanted to press my hands up against my ears, the noise in the 

room and all over for that fact, was so bad that it was deafening. 

Damn Cortexiphan. As if it can’t ruin my life anymore than it has. 

This super hearing isn’t my idea of a ‘nice’ ability if you ask me. 

I’ve never told Peter about it. How could I do that to him? We were 

married, and yet I still kept things from him. How could I do that? 

It wasn’t fair to him. He’d after all, promised to protect me no 

matter what we faced. With shear force, I heard the remote being 

smashed to pieces below someone’s foot. Then the noise seemed to 

quiet. I didn’t like how my ability could turn on and off like that. I 

felt like a weight had been lifted from my chest. My eyes fluttered a 

little, and I began to cough a little as the pressure left my lungs. I 

removed the mask from my face and turned my attention to Peter.

“Water.”

My voice was hoarse, but Peter could understand why. He placed a 

glass of water into my hands and helped me sit up so that I could 

drink. I downed it as if it were a shot of bourbon. Peter grew wide-

eyed at the sight.

“Easy Liv. That water isn’t a shot of bourbon. How are you feeling 

by the way?”

Did Peter really want to know? I looked around at all the people 

around me, they seemed concerned. But me being my stubborn self 

started to get up. I was fine. I could handle what came at me. 

Besides, I wasn’t alone in this fight. I had Peter to watch my back. 

Better than John could ever do for me. He only caught me, never 

held me in a loving embrace. Peter did both.

“I’m fine Peter. But we need to get to those women. I just have a 

bad feeling here about things. We have to get to them before it’s too 

late. I’m alright Peter. I can breathe now. That remote just knocked 

me clear on my ass for a bit. Let’s go.”

Peter made me sit for a few minutes so that the medical team could 

examine me. To make sure that I was really alright. The faster we 

caught these terrorists, the better off I’d be in getting these chips out 

of my teeth. Truth be told, I was scared, but there was no time for 

that now. We had to get to those two women. They were in danger.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4:00 p.m.

We converged on the warehouse in the 3600 block of South Boston 

on all sides. Broyles had even agreed to give Peter a gun. He had 

told that it was high time he had gotten one. He was even given a 

bullet proof vest. I made my way in first. The warehouse looked 

strangely familiar, like the one in Watertown from my dream.

Or rather my memories. I heard two voices whimpering in the corner 

of the warehouse, it sounds like its coming from the Southwest 

corner.

With my gun drawn in one hand, and my flashlight in the other, I 

carefully rounded the corners until I came upon a small woman 

huddled in a corner, crying and moaning. I looked her over carefully 

and could see that she was struggling. She looked to me with ‘help’ 

written all over her face.

“I’ve found one over here!”

As soon as those words came out of my mouth arms grabbed me 

tightly from behind and my gun went off, shooting a bullet through 

the roof. The large hand clamped over my mouth, making it hard to 

breathe. I sunk my teeth into my attackers hand and he let out an 

angry cry. I had walked right into a trap.

“Ah! Lady, what’d you do that for! You know you’re not getting out 

of here without a fight don’t you? There are only so many of you, 

but there are more of us. This woman needs someone to deliver her 

child. Got any experience?”

Me? Delivering a baby? When I was in the Marines I was only 

trained in certain areas. I knew how to remove a bullet, and then 

fix a bullet wound, give sutures to close an open wound, and basic 

first aid. CPR. But nothing as serious as delivering a baby. They’d 

even asked me to become a field Medic at one point, but I 

respectfully declined that offer. I shook my head no, but I’d do the 

best with what I had.

“No, but I’m sure I can figure something out. Do you have any clean 

towels? Or any kind of blankets? This place isn’t clean; I need 

something for her to lie down on.”

I turned to the small woman in front of me, she tried to smile, but all 

I got was half of one. She was a little leery of me, but I understood 

that. I smiled at her telling her who I was.

“It’s okay. I’m here to help you. My name’s Olivia Dunham. I’m 

with the FBI. We’ll get you out of here as soon as we can. Just relax 

and try to focus on your breathing. I will do the best I can to help 

you. I’m not versed in delivering babies, but I think I can figure 

things out along the way. I used to be in the Marines so I can do just 

about anything with a med kit. What’s your name?”

I felt stupid. Why had I said that just now? I took a deep breath and 

took the med-kit from the man who was now holding me captive. I 

ripped it open to try and find anything I could use to help me out. 

Gauze, band-aids, scalpel, needle and thread... I was totally 

clueless on how I was going to do this, but somehow I knew I could 

do this. It would be one more thing to add to my list of things I’ve 

done, including saving both Walter’s and Peter’s lives. The small 

woman in front of me gave a little smile and told me her name.

“Rochelle Mason. Please can you get my daughter out safely? Are 

you a doctor?”

I shook my head no. I took another deep breath to calm myself. I 

had turned the safety on my gun back on and put it back in the 

holster. My flashlight remained on top of a box just above my head. 

It was dark in the warehouse, so I’d need my flashlight to see what I 

was doing. I relaxed my shoulders and looked the woman in the eye.

“No, but when I was in the Marines I was given the job of field 

medic. So not exactly the ranking of a doctor. But pretty close. I’ll 

do the best I can. This is a new experience for me. I’ll do my best to 

help you through the motions.”

Rochelle’s eyes saddened as she kept looking at me. Can she sense 

what I just went through? I mean, me losing a child? I shook my 

head to try and forget, because I knew that Amy was in a better 

place.

“Oh, you were pregnant too weren’t you? I can tell, your shirts too 

tight. It was the chip in the upper right molar that made you lose 

your baby isn’t it? They told us it would cause premature labor 

down the road. Did they tell you that too?”

I immediately pushed the thought out of my mind and concentrated 

on Rochelle. The man I now knew as Mark, who ironically was 

Doctor Anderson’s assistant from the dentist’s office, threw me a 

semi-clean blanket.

“Yes it did. But my main focus is on you and your baby right now. 

Can I get you to lift up your butt for me? I’m going to put this 

blanket under you. (Turns to Mark) Could you find me something 

soft for her to lay her head on? I’m asking nicely. And don’t point 

your gun at me. What did I ever do to you anyways?”

I grew even more nervous as things were starting to fall into place. 

Pull it together Dunham; you’re a soldier for crying out loud! Pull 

it together! There were now twelve men staring at us. I shook my 

head, this was embarrassing. A little privacy would be nice. I still 

heard other agents scouring the warehouse looking to see where my 

gun had gone off. I heard my radio go off, which was attached to my 

left hip. It was Broyles.

“What’s your twenty Dunham?”

My location? I wished I could tell him. I was in the Southwest 

corner of the warehouse, but not just anybody could get to me 

anymore. I was surrounded by more people than I could fend off by 

myself. Mark put his gun up to my temple. I swallowed but wasn’t 

going to let him scare me. Mark was a bluffer most of the time. 

Don’t know what makes him so strong now. He was practically 

spitting my face ordering me what to say to Broyles.

“Don’t do anything stupid. Tell him: we want 2 billion in unmarked 

sequential bills. And we want the money by eight tonight. 

Understood? No funny business now. After you tell him that, you’ve 

got a baby to deliver. Now get to it before I shoot you.”

I paid no attention to his last sentence. I had nerves of steel. I wasn’t 

going to let him scare me. Though my hands were betraying me at 

every turn. Grabbing for my radio, I swallowed and took a deep 

breath.

“Sir, I’ve just been given a demand by the kidnappers. They want 2 

billion in unmarked sequential bills. They want the money by eight 

tonight. (Lowers voice and hopes that Mark cannot hear) I’m in the 

Southwest corner of the building. The woman in front of me, 

Rochelle Mason, she’s gone into labor, and without any medical 

teams to gain access to her, I’m going to have to do it myself.”

Mark knocked my radio out of my hand once he realized what I was 

doing. He put his gun back in his holster at his right hip. A quick slap 

to my face was his way of answering me at the moment. Reeling 

from the slap to my face, I spat on him. What gave him the right to 

hit me? My heart leapt into my throat as I heard Peter’s voice 

somewhere close.

“Olivia! Talk to me, where are you?”

Peter followed where my flashlight was. He pushed his way past the 

men surrounding us. He saw the look on my face and gasped. I think 

he knew where the red mark on my face came from. I resumed my 

position in front of Rochelle, who by now was red in the face.

“HELP ME! PLEASE! It hurts! Get my baby out please!”

Peter began to roll up his sleeves after he took his coat off. Mark hit 

him with the butt of his gun to the back of the head. Peter cowered 

in pain for a moment, but then came back up, determined to remain 

strong.

“You are not to get involved in this Mr. Bishop. Delivering this child 

is Agent Dunham’s task. You just sit and watch. I’m allowing you to 

give her pointers if you must, but that is all I’m allowing out of you. 

If you so much as try to bring this child into the world yourself, I will 

kill you.”

I took a deep breath and focused all my attention on Rochelle. She 

definitely wasn’t ignoring her instincts at this point. She wasn’t 

ignoring her instinct to push. Something wasn’t quite right about the 

situation though. Something told me that it wasn’t the right time yet. 

Peter looked at me with panic written all over his face.

“Olivia, you’ve got to tell her to stop pushing. She’s not to ten 

centimeters yet. From what I can tell, she’s about seven. She’ll hurt 

herself if she keeps going in this direction. The baby’s not ready to 

come out yet.”

I smirked at Peter, my genius of a husband. He knew just about 

everything. What’d he do, try to pretend he was a doctor at one 

point? I shook my head and looked Rochelle in the eye. She was 

frightened, but I had to keep her calm.

“Rochelle, I need you to do a really big favor for me. I need you to 

stop pushing. I know you’re just following what your body is telling 

you to do, but right now you’re only going to hurt yourself. I know it 

hurts. Just try and relax. Take a few deep breaths in and let them out 

slowly. There you go. That’s it. Relax. Don’t try to fight with the 

contractions; it’ll only make it worse.”

Now it was Peter’s turn to smirk at me. Wonder what he was 

thinking of me now? I knew now he was going to don a new title on 

me. Instead of calling me sweetheart or honey, he probably refers to 

me as something entirely different. He laughed to try and lighten the 

mood, even though the situation in which we were in wasn’t 

humorous in the least.

“Well Doctor Olivia Dunham, nice bedside manner. Are you sure 

you didn’t study to be a doctor in college? You’re too smart for what 

you do.”

I shook my head no and gave Peter a small smile. My mood turned 

serious once more as I looked at the twelve men around me. I really 

felt we needed some privacy here. This was a very delicate and 

personal situation. This would be me someday.

“Excuse me gentlemen, but I’d really like some privacy here. So if 

you don’t mind, I’d like you all to turn around.”

None of the men budged. Typical. I’d just have to ignore them. 

Rochelle kept staring between me and Peter. She looked worried. 

She spoke through gritting her teeth.

“Who is he? Is he one of the kidnappers too?”

I shook my head no and grabbed for Rochelle’s hand to comfort her. 

Her screams were deafening as I’m sure the whole warehouse heard. 

I wished I’d had my radio with me. Mark had thrown it across the 

room.

“No Rochelle. Don’t worry, this is my husband Peter. He’s here to 

help you too. I promise to get your daughter out safely. You have 

my word. Now just try and relax.”

Hearing my own voice trying to comfort this scared woman didn’t 

comfort me the least bit. I felt I was being cold. Though my voice 

had a soft maternal quality to it. She swallowed and took deep 

cleansing breaths to try and relax herself. I looked to Peter worriedly. 

I whispered in his ear, getting a nasty reaction from Mark.

“Peter, I don’t like the looks of where all this is going. I’m doing the 

best I can to help her out. But I’m no doctor! How am I supposed to 

deliver a baby when I don’t even know how? I need your help 

through this. I don’t want to make a vital mistake. You know what 

happens when I make vital mistakes, I beat myself up mentally for 

weeks.”

Peter squeezed my hand to comfort me. He wasn’t going to let me 

down. He was right here, and he wasn’t leaving my side. I turned 

back to Rochelle and smiled at her warmly, trying to get myself to be 

less cold towards her.

“How are you doing Rochelle? You hanging in there?”

Rochelle nodded her head at me and smiled back. I think she felt 

comforted to know that there was another woman to help her 

through all this. I don’t know how well the baby would do once it 

came out of Rochelle. The warehouse was absolutely freezing. Peter 

wrapped his coat around her and kept it there.

“Yeah, but my contractions are getting closer together and I think the 

baby’s head is starting to drop down.”

I took a deep breath and looked under my coat I had placed over her 

legs; I could see the baby’s head barely coming out. I put the coat 

back down and turned to Peter for some help. He leaned in close so 

that I could whisper into his ear.

“Peter I need your help again. The baby’s head is starting to show. 

What do you want me to do?”

Peter looked at me seriously and leaned in towards my ear. I could 

feel his warm breath against it as he whispered into it.

“What I need you to do is help her stay relaxed. I want you to tell 

her to push as hard as she can. She’s doing all the work; you’re just 

helping her out. I won’t lie to you; this is going to get messy. Which 

is why I’m not even going to look. There’s a lot of blood involved.”

I nodded my head and turned back to Rochelle who looked at me 

expectantly. I gave her a reassuring smile and took another deep 

breath. This was very nerve wracking. I was holding two lives in my 

hands now.

“Okay Rochelle, we’re there. Now, I want you to take a deep breath 

in and let it out slowly. Then I want you to give a big push for me. 

Good girl. Big push for me Rochelle! Big push! You’re doing just 

fine. I know it hurts, but this will all be over soon okay? Baby’s head 

will be out in one more big push okay? Give one more big push for 

me, one more! Okay were over the hard part, shoulders should be 

easier. You’re doing just great.

A few more pushes and the baby will be out. Give me four more 

great big pushes for me and you’ll be done! Okay, one, keep going... 

Two, good girl your almost there! Three, baby’s out! You have a 

very healthy looking little girl here. Let me just clean her off and cut 

the umbilical cord. (Turns to Peter) Peter, is there any chance of a 

pair of scissors inside that med-kit there? No? Okay, scalpel it is 

then...”

I was careful in separating the infant from the umbilical cord 

attaching her to her mother. Since I had nothing to clean the baby up 

with, Peter wrapped her in his coat and placed her in Rochelle’s 

arms. This was turning out to be an okay day after all. Peter turned 

away as he saw all the blood covering my shoes. He took one look at 

my blood soaked gloves and turned away from that too. Don’t know 

why he’s being so squeamish.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a long day, and an exceptionally long night. Now that 

Peter and I were home, everything started to come back to me full 

force. The day’s events had been nothing short of extraordinary. 

Walter had been badgering me since we left the lab to give him all 

the gory details of Rochelle’s birth. But I wasn’t going to disclose 

that to him. It was personal business.

All twelve men in the warehouse had been arrested and were 

awaiting trial for conspiracy against the U.S. government and 

terrorism charges. There are more I’m sure, but we can’t be sure 

where the rest are at. I was now lying on the bed, playing with my 

wedding ring hoping Peter would say something, but he was too 

preoccupied with the infomercial on the tv. I took the remote and 

shut it off.

“You know Peter, if you were so inclined to help Rochelle, why did 

you become so squeamish anyways? I saw you rolling up your 

sleeves; you were volunteering yourself to deliver that baby. It 

wasn’t so bad. Helping bring that baby into the world was something 

else entirely. I can’t explain it, other than it made me feel calm once 

the baby came out. But it’s not my calling. The FBI is my only real 

job.”

Peter only gave me a crooked smile and began to tickle me like 

crazy. My laughter seemed to alert Walter. Peter kept tickling me 

even as Walter was knocking on the door. I could hear his voice on 

the other side.

“Son, you know you and agent Dunham are very boisterous and 

loud when you’re having...”

Peter stopped tickling me for a moment and threw one of the firm 

pillows at the door telling Walter to go away. He defended himself. 

Shaking my head, I stifled a laugh, my smile never leaving my face.

“Walter mind your own business. We’re not having sex. I’m just 

tickling her.”

It was just like Walter to think like that. Peter turned back to me and 

started tickling me again, he knew my weak spots. I was very ticklish 

under my arms and on my sides. My neck too. Walter was still on 

the other side, ready with his response to Peter’s defense.

“Sure son, that’s how it starts. Night.”

Peter and I rolled our eyes at one another, but now I had the distinct 

advantage over him. I pinned him to the floor and found all his weak 

spots. I tickled him under his knees. He too was very ticklish in the 

neck. We needed a good laugh after what’s been going on lately. We 

laughed long into the night, not caring who heard us. It was just 

simple fun.

To Be Continued...


	8. Christmas Eve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters.

December 24th, 2010

I don’t know if it’s just because it’s Christmas Eve, or me but, I felt so 

alive today. Must be the Christmas spirit. A roaring fire kept us warm, 

while Walter went about putting milk and cookies out on the coffee 

table for Santa. I laughed, and Peter only smirked at him.

“Walter, you do realize that only children leave milk and cookies out 

for Santa don’t you?”

Walter ignored his son’s question and put them on the table anyways. 

My sister was on her way with Ella, who was very excited to open up 

her presents. The doorbell rang just as Ella’s smiling face passed 

through my mind. Smiling, I went to the door, and when I opened it, 

sure enough there was Ella’s adorable little face smiling at me with a 

loose tooth.

“Hi Aunt Olivia! We’re here!”

I scooped Ella up into my arms and held her. She laughed and tried to 

look behind me at the presents under the Christmas tree. Frowning at 

me suddenly, she looked down to the slight bulge of my stomach.

“Aunt Liv, maybe you shouldn’t carry me anymore. It’s not good for 

you. You have my baby cousin inside your tummy.”

If only that were still true. I wished I could turn back the hands of time and 

prevent myself from losing Amy. I had to keep reminding myself that this baby 

wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t the right time. I carefully set Ella back onto 

the ground and Rachel pulled me into a hug. When she pulled away 

from me, she smiled brightly.

“Liv you are glowing! Look at you! That baby bump is going to start 

peeking out from under your shirt a few months from now. We 

should go shopping and get you some new clothes. How does that 

sound?”

I smiled weakly at her. I’d break the news to her after dinner. I didn’t want to 

spoil anything. I wouldn’t let this dampen my holiday spirit. Not one bit. 

It was the past now, and yet I couldn’t seem to let it go.

“There is something that I need to tell you Rachel. But after dinner, I 

don’t want to spoil anyone’s holiday mood. Especially my own, 

because it has to do with me...”

Rachel’s eyes searched my own for any kind of answer I could give 

her. But it was too soon to tell her. I didn’t want to spoil Christmas 

for Ella. Ella’s little voice made me crack a wide spread smile.

“Grandpa, did you get me anything good? Is that big box for me?”

I could see Ella’s little legs jumping up and down trying to see behind 

Walter. He smiled mischievously at Ella and gave her hair a little 

ruffling.

“Do be patient child. There are plenty of presents here for you. I do 

happen to know that the big box behind me is something for you. 

Something along the lines of...”

Peter interrupted Walter and leaned down in front of Ella, picking her 

up and putting her on his shoulders. She giggled up on top of Peter’s 

shoulders. Peter was going to make such a wonderful father. Shaking my head 

to get out of the rut I was in, I smiled at them both laughing as I did.

“How has my favorite niece been lately? I hope you’ve been good. 

Cause if haven’t, your getting coal in your stocking...”

He took Ella from his shoulders and set her down on the carpet, 

tickling her as he did. She squealed and giggled as Peter continued to 

tickle her. She was the happiest little girl I’ve ever known.

“I’ve been good Uncle Peter! Really I have! What did you and Aunt 

Liv get me?”

Peter put his fingers to his lips and didn’t say anymore.

“I can’t tell you Ella, it’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait until after 

dinner. It’s almost time to eat, would you like to help me set the 

table? We are having duck.”

It’s true, we were having duck. Duck was very expensive, but also 

very tasty. I’d begged Peter for it when I was still pregnant. I still 

wanted it even though I wasn’t anymore. Pushing the thought aside, I 

made my way into the kitchen and put a few plates onto the kitchen 

table. I smiled at my sister as she helped me set the table. Once the 

table was set, Peter came over with the tray of duck and placed it onto 

the dining room table. As we passed each other to place a few more 

things on the table, I stole a kiss from Peter. Mm. He tasted like honey. 

Ella’s squeal interrupted us and we broke apart.

“Ew! Aunt Liv, Uncle Peter! That’s gross! Kissing is yucky! I hope I 

never fall in love with boys! Boys are gross!”

Peter and I laughed a little at Ella’s remark and past each other, 

brushing each other’s hands with our index fingers. Now that the table 

was all set, all of us took our rightful positions at the dining room 

table. Walter always got the head of the table. Peter and I sat across 

from each other, and Ella and Rachel both sat across from each other. 

Ella sat next to me and Rachel sat next to Peter. There was no reason 

to get jealous of my sister because she wasn’t even interested in Peter, 

and she knew that he was mine in the first place. As we began to eat, 

Rachel kept looking at Ella.

“Ella Jane, please take your elbows off the table.”

I watched as Ella put them down, but now she could barely reach the 

table. Peter put down his fork and knife and went over by the phone 

and grabbed a phone book from the small table. He lifted Ella up and 

placed the phone book under her so that she could reach the table. 

When he sat back down at the table, he gave me a somewhat 

mischievous smile and started playing footsy with me under the table. 

Peter and I ignored Walter’s comment to the both of us as we 

continued to eat, taking playful glances at each other.

“Son, agent Dunham, would you two quit playing footsy under the 

table. Your going to give the child bad ideas.”

Peter and I burst out laughing at one another and kept playing footsy. 

Rachel gave me a startled look.

“Uh Liv, that’s my leg your playing footsy with not Peter.”

My face turned three shades of red. I mouthed an ‘I’m sorry’ to her 

and she only shook her head. Peter and I stopped playing footsy with 

each other and grew silent, our fits of laughter dying with it. We 

continued our meal in silence, but kept giving each other looks of 

longing. Walter looked at me with a smirk on his face. I’d never seen 

him smirk at me before. He suspects I’ve had a bit too much to drink. 

“Judging by the way your pupils are dilated agent Dunham; I’d say 

you’ve had quite a few alcoholic beverages already. How many have 

you had?”

Well, I was pretty tipsy. Let’s see here, five and a half. Sixth being the glass 

I’m drinking out of right now. Easy on the red wine there Dunham. I burst out 

laughing at Walter, now normally I wouldn’t do this, but I was drunk 

and I thought everything right now was funny. Rachel looked at me in 

shock.

“Five and a half Walter. What’s the big deal? I’m not hurting 

myself...”

Rachel continued to look at me with worried and concerned eyes. 

Well, maybe I should just blurt out what I was going to tell her after dinner. She 

put her fork down and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Liv, you know you shouldn’t drink in your condition. What’s the 

matter with you?”

Ella got a worried look on her face next to me and tugged on my 

shirt. I looked down at her and smiled. She looked like she was about 

ready to cry. I smoothed some hair away from her face and took her 

face into my hands.

“Aunt Liv, don’t fight with mommy. Please.”

Why would I want to fight with my own sister? I shook my head no and 

kissed her on the forehead. She seemed to calm down a bit and turned 

back to her food.

“Don’t worry baby girl, mommy and I aren’t fighting. See? No 

worries. How about we finish dinner and then we go into the living 

room to open presents okay?”

Ella nodded her head and started to wolf down her food, faster than 

the rest of us. Walter gave Ella a concerned look. One that crossed 

between concern and worry. His words were gentle towards her.

“Child do slow down. I don’t want to have to perform the Heimlich 

maneuver on you.”

I put a hand on Ella’s arm and she looked up at me with wide eyes. 

She seemed to know that something was going on, and that I wasn’t 

telling. Her curious wide eyes seemed to drop down to my stomach 

once more. She put her fork down on her plate and continued stare at 

my stomach. Does she know that something’s happened? But I haven’t even told 

her! Frankly, I don’t want to be the one to tell her. Rachel would have to break it 

to her. 

“Aunt Liv, why did you look so sad earlier when I asked you about 

my baby cousin?”

I couldn’t tell Ella. Not just yet anyways. It was just too painful. We 

were nearly finished with dinner when Rachel pulled me up from my 

chair and into the living room. Her concerned eyes searched mine to 

find an answer she was desperately searching for.

“I can’t keep this to myself anymore! Rachel the reason why I’m 

drinking is because I’m not pregnant anymore. I lost the baby about a 

week ago after that seizure I had... I thought I could just get over it, 

just like that, but I can’t let her go Rachel! I can’t!”

Rachel’s eyes grew big and tears began to flow down her marble white 

cheeks. She pulled me into a hug. I reciprocated and held her tightly 

for a second. This was what I couldn’t tell Ella. When she let go I ran my 

hands through my hair nervously.

“Oh my god Liv... I am so sorry... I thought earlier when you looked 

upset when Ella asked about the baby was just because of the raging 

hormones. But now I know the real reason... How is Peter taking it? I 

feel so insensitive now that I got you all those baby clothes. I’ll just 

take them back to the store next week and get a refund...”

I shook my head no at Rachel and pulled her into a hug once more. I 

didn’t want her to take all those clothes back. Peter and I would just 

keep them... We were bound to have another baby down the road 

sometime or another...

“No need to Rachel... I couldn’t ask you to take back all those 

clothes. Peter and I will keep them... I mean, we’re bound to have 

another baby sometime down the road... You would think there was 

something wrong with me... Heh, this is Peter and I’s first 

miscarriage. I guess we just have bad luck getting pregnant.”

Now it was Rachel’s turn to look at me and shake her head no. She 

must think I’m being ridiculous. Maybe I was. Maybe number four 

would be the lucky one. They say third time’s a charm, but that 

inevitably didn’t work out for me.

“Hey Liv, stop blaming yourself. I think what’s best for you right now 

is to just leave all this alone for tonight and you and Peter can talk 

about it in a couple of days. No reason to ruin the Christmas spirit 

right?”

I tried my best to give Rachel a sincere smile, and it seemed to work. I 

dried my tears and we walked back into the kitchen together laughing, 

trying to keep me cheerful. Rachel started out by bringing up a 

memory of when it was just the three of us, her, mom and I.

“Remember when mom tried to put the turkey in the oven Liv?”

I burst out laughing and had another swig of my wine before 

answering her. I laughed some more and looked at Rachel. Happy 

memories of mom. 

“Yeah, and she forgot to defrost it... She tried to carve it right after 

she took it out of the oven and it was as hard as a rock! I remember, 

she said: would you like your turkey frozen, or extremely well done?”

Rachel and I continued laughing, Ella hadn’t known her grandmother. 

But she had Walter. Walter was the only grandfather she had since 

both of my parents were gone. I smiled at the thought of dad. His big 

strong arms picking me up, though faint as memories go. Daddy. Peter 

chuckled a bit at the way we were laughing.

“Livvy, I think you’ve had enough to drink. Give me your glass.”

I pouted at Peter as he took my half glass of wine away from me. I 

was disappointed that he took my glass of wine away. But I’d sneak in 

another when he wasn’t even looking. I got up from the dining room 

table and began to clear some of the dishes from the table when I lost 

my balance. Peter immediately was at my side, helping me put the 

plates back down.

“Okay, that’s enough ‘celebrating’ for one night. You’re going to the 

living room and having a seat on the couch. I’ll get you a cup of 

coffee. Sober you up some...”

I turned to Peter giggling as I did. Oh my god, I was dead drunk! I blindly 

patted his face with my hands. My voice was sounding more slurred 

than it had previously. My vision was also getting blurry.

“Oooh, does this mean you and I can have some se...”

Peter steered me out of the kitchen and into the living room. He 

shook his head at me, my vision still swimming. I was losing my 

bearings around me. What a mess I was... Peter leaned in and whispered 

in my ear.

“Really? Right now? I think we should sober you up first before we 

get to that... That was part of dessert, but it’ll have to wait until 

everyone has gone to bed... Don’t you think Liv?”

I sighed in obvious frustration taking my hands out of Peter’s hair. I 

was getting sleepy, but there was something else. My mind was going 

blank, whether it was the wine flowing through my system or 

something else... I didn’t know, but it didn’t feel right.

Just as I was putting coffee into a coffee cup for Liv, a scream came 

from the living room, and it sounded a lot like Ella’s.

“MOMMY!”

I sprinted from the kitchen and into the living room which took only 

milliseconds, only to find Ella standing as far away from Liv as 

possible. Rachel pushed past me to get to Ella. She pulled Ella into 

her arms and tried to calm her.

“Ella, what happened baby? What’s wrong?”

Ella didn’t say anything, only pointed in Liv’s direction. My eyes 

widened in shock and fear as Liv’s body contorted in convulsive 

spasms in every direction. I became upset when I didn’t see Walter 

anywhere in the room. Now was the time to yell. I managed to pull 

her from the couch and onto the floor, all while moving the coffee 

table as far away from her as possible.

“WALTER! Get in here! I need your help with Olivia!”

Rachel and Ella watched helplessly almost next to me. Walter pushed 

his way past them and kneeled down next to Olivia. The only thing I 

could do for her at this point was to hold her head steady. Walter 

looked at me seriously.

“Son, make sure her airway is clear. Get me some Phenobarbital. And 

be quick about it son.”

I didn’t like leaving Liv like this, but getting that Phenobarbital was 

the only way to save her. Taking the stairs by twos, I raced into 

Walter’s room finding some on one of the shelves scattered with 

various different papers some of which I didn’t want to know what the 

formulas were for. I raced back downstairs and handed Walter the 

medication and went back to holding Liv’s head.

I noticed Walter had placed a washcloth into her mouth so that she 

wouldn’t swallow her tongue. Tears were beginning to form in my 

eyes, but I held them back. I watched as Walter slid the syringe into 

Olivia’s vein in her arm and inject the Phenobarbital into her system.

I don’t know what that’s going to do to her system, only because her 

body is already flooded with alcohol. I saw Liv’s body stop 

convulsing and relax. After about a minute, she opened up her eyes, 

seeming more sober now for some reason then before she fell into 

her unknown seizure. Her frightened eyes searched my own to find 

out just what was going on.

“Peter I... What happened?”

I put my index finger to her lips to quiet her. I didn’t want her to 

speak. Walter would have to give her a once over to make sure her 

vitals were normal.

“Shh, don’t talk Liv. Don’t talk. It’ll be alright. You had a seizure. I 

know, that’s the fifth one since a couple of weeks ago.”

I looked at the faces of both Rachel and Ella. They were both scared. 

Ella had tears rolling down her cheeks. Rachel was the first to speak 

to Peter.

“Peter, is Liv going to be alright?”

Peter nodded his head seriously and started wiping the sweat away 

from my forehead that I didn’t even know I had. I was starting to get a 

really bad headache. But this time not from the chips in my teeth. 

Walter had taken them out of my teeth just few short days ago. I put a 

hand up to my forehead to try and dull the pain. Peter’s soothing 

voice rang in my ears.

“Easy there Liv. Take it easy. Everything is going to be just fine 

now.”

Ella’s scared little face looked into my eyes and she ran over to me, 

trying to give me a hug. She was hysterical. I did nothing but sit there 

and let her hug me. Her asking more questions than I could give 

answers to.

“Aunt Liv what happened? Why were you shaking like that? I was 

scared you were going to die!”

That was ridiculous. I wasn’t going to die, I was fine. Peter stopped 

wiping the sweat away from my forehead and pulled Ella into his 

arms. He smiled at her warmly.

“Listen to me Ella; I would never let anything bad happen to your 

aunt. She’s not going to die. She’s very strong. Grandpa and I will 

make sure this doesn’t happen anymore. She’s okay, she just needs to 

rest. You do understand what I’m saying don’t you?”

I watched as Ella nodded her head in agreement, and sniffled a little, 

drying her eyes. Peter pulled her into a hug and rocked her a little. He 

was definitely going to be a good father. He was already showing it with Ella. I 

smiled at the thought. My mind seemed to wander to sometime in the 

future, and Peter is holding a newborn in his arms. A pink blanket was 

wrapped around the tiny baby and he kept cooing at her to calm her 

down. A girl. Was I really going to have a little girl? Peter would insist that it 

was a boy though... No use in arguing over the sex of the baby... My mind went 

back to the real world when Ella gave Peter her answer.

“Yes Uncle Peter, I understand. Can we open presents now?”

Peter and I both smiled at Ella’s innocent nature. I was glad she was 

forgetting all about what had just happened to me. I’m just sorry that 

she had to see it. Rachel smiled at Ella as she sat down and waited 

expectantly for someone to hand her some presents. Peter helped me 

sit up on top of the couch once I was able to stand on my feet once 

more. Once Walter had given me a once over to make sure I was 

okay, and had given me the green light that I was alright, he gave my 

shoulder a quick squeeze. He clapped his hands together and then 

rubbed his palms in excitement.

“Peter, would you do the honors and hand out the presents? As a 

father to son request?”

Now it was Peter’s turn to laugh a little at Walter’s childish 

excitement. I shook my head and watched from my position on the 

couch. Peter took the first present, the big box that Walter had tried 

to tell Ella what it was earlier and set it in front of our niece.

“This one is for you Ella, from me and your aunt Liv. Go ahead, open 

it.”

I smiled and watched as Ella tore the paper off the box, she squealed 

when she saw what it was. She turned the box around to show Rachel.

“A toy house! I’ve been asking mommy for this since my birthday! 

Thank you Aunt Liv! Thank you Uncle Peter!”

Peter and I both shared looks of amusement and happiness as Ella 

continued opening up her presents. This Christmas hadn’t turned out 

all that bad. More good news would follow in the year to come. Peter 

and I just didn’t know it yet.

To Be Continued...


	9. A Miracle In Itself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters.

July 1st, 2011 2:35 p.m.

The room was completely devoid of any coloring, and there were 

medical instruments everywhere. Some frightened me. As I lie here 

on the medical examining table, nearly shivering to death in this 

awful and skimpy hospital gown, Peter gave me a reassuring and 

comforting smile.

“Don’t worry ‘Livia. I’m sure when the doctor comes in; she’ll let 

us know what she’s found. We’ll have a baby. I promise. Relax.”

How could I relax? My whole body was tense with nervousness. 

Peter’s hand seemed to calm me as my new OB stepped into the 

room, Doctor Elker. Her smile was bright as she looked at me, and 

in her hands was my medical file. It had everything about me in 

there. What immunizations I’ve had, my accident from a year ago, 

where I was thrown from my windshield of my car from William 

Bell’s reality, my dislocated right hip, and that I tried already 

unsuccessfully to get pregnant three times. I took a deep breath, 

relaxing myself.

“Oh, it’s perfectly understandable to be nervous Olivia. I’m Doctor 

Elker. I’ll be looking after you, if and when we find out that you 

are pregnant. According to your medical records, it says that 

you’ve had one miscarriage?”

I nodded my head biting my lip still very nervous. I wanted to be 

pregnant more than anything. A baby would complete both Peter 

and I. Doctor Elker turned on a machine which looked strangely 

like a television screen. What was she going to do now? I answered 

her question.

“Yes, one time. Peter and I tried, but it just didn’t work. I’m 

hoping that whatever you find, it’ll be good news. What are you 

going to do to me? You’re not going to stick a kind of microscope 

with a camera on the end inside of me are you?”

Doctor Elker nodded her head yes at me. She took something that 

looked like a long snake. I cringed and looked back at Peter 

grabbing his hand tightly. I kept myself calm as she went about 

doing her business.

“Take a deep breath in and relax yourself. What I’m going to do is 

put this camera inside of you to see if we can find anything. This 

might be a little uncomfortable, so try and relax.”

I nodded my head and bit my lip even more as Doctor Elker put 

the camera inside of me. This was uncomfortable. I turned to the 

black and white screen off to the side of me. Was that thing inside 

of my uterus?

“Mmm, that’s uncomfortable...”

Doctor Elker gave me an apologetic look and continued to search 

the screen for what she was looking for. I fiddled with my wedding 

ring on my left hand, trying to avoid what was going on. Doctor 

Elker turned back to me and smiled.

“Well, I think congratulations are in order here. If you’d take a look 

at the screen, I’d like to show you two something. You see this 

little dot right here? That’s your baby. Congratulations to the both 

of you.”

Tears were shining in my eyes and Peter pulled me in for a kiss. I 

hadn’t had time to notice that the doctor was taking out the 

‘microscope’ with the camera on the end. It was truly a miracle. 

Half the battle was over. We finally had a baby. Rachel and Ella 

would be happy when they heard the news. So would Walter for 

that fact. Doctor Elker left the manila folder on the counter next to 

the exam table but handed me a wipe to clean myself up with 

before she left. Peter looked at me with a hard to read expression 

on his face.

“What Peter?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me as I threw the 

wipe into the biohazardous trashcan by the door.

“Oh nothing Livvy, I was just thinking about the HUGE differences 

between men and women.”

Oh this should be interesting. He really shouldn’t be going there. I 

shook my head and laughed. Why were we even going here? 

“Don’t start with that again Peter. Sometimes I wished men would 

go through what women did for one day, just to see how it really 

feels. You don’t have to worry about having periods or cramps, 

carrying and giving birth to a baby, getting breast exams, or having 

doctors examine you in places you’d rather them not be. My last 

pet peeve about being a woman: Pap smears.”

Peter put his hands up in submission. I had managed to beat him on 

that part. Crossing my arms over my chest, I stared him down. 

Then I put my hands on my hips. I’d get dressed in a minute.

“Okay I give up. I do feel sorry for women though. The pain they 

must go through. I honestly don’t know what it feels like. I don’t 

even want to imagine what a Pap smear feels like. Having your 

insides stretched out... I don’t know, that just is very violating to 

me. You know, you look sexy in those black lace underwear and 

bra. Don’t worry; you’ll still look sexy even with a big baby belly 

later down the road.”

My eyes flashed an angry look at him. How would I look sexy with 

a big baby belly? I shook my head and glared at him. Giving him 

the eyebrow was the only thing that was quelling my anger. I took a 

deep breath as I put my pantsuit back on.

“Don’t even go there Peter Bishop. You know I’m going to look 

like a cow with a baby belly down the road. I won’t look sexy at 

all. You’re just saying that to make me feel better. Well knock it 

off. It’s not helping you any.”

Wow, raging hormones already. Fourth time’s a charm in my 

book. I couldn’t wait to tell Rachel in person. Ella too. It was a 

long car ride home, but Peter and I were practically beaming from 

ear to ear. I felt like I was on top of the world. When we got home, 

we laced our hands together and walked up the front steps to the 

porch with a spring in each of our steps. When Peter unlocked the 

door and went in, he called out for Walter and Astrid.

“Walter we’re back. Astrid? Where is everybody?”

Walter came out of the kitchen with Astrid trailing behind him. A 

look of anticipation written all over his face. He looked at me 

expectantly. Peter and I couldn’t help but smile at each other and 

then looked back to Walter.

“Son, Agent Dunham. Your back from the doctor’s already. So, do 

tell child, is it good news?”

I bit my lip and smiled more, turning red. I felt like a schoolgirl with 

a big secret. Peter squeezed my hand to give me the courage to tell 

Walter what we knew. I took a deep breath and let it out. I felt like 

squealing. But then I would feel like a teenager again.

“Yes Walter, it is good news. I’m pregnant.”

Walter pulled me into his arms and hugged me. His face was filled 

with excitement. When he let go, he had a look at me. He chuckled 

to himself.

“You are glowing my dear. Now, will you allow me to point you in 

the direction of the correct nutritional foods and supplements you 

will need during the gestation of your child?”

I laughed at Walter’s fancy words. I was in such a light-hearted 

mood that I didn’t care at the moment. Now it was Astrid’s turn to 

give me congratulations.

“Well congratulations Olivia. I’m happy for you. When is the baby 

due?”

Peter and I spoke at the same time, revealing the date to both 

Walter and Astrid. They were smiling from ear to ear.

“April 2nd. Give or take a few days.”

Peter and I both pointed to each other and started laughing. Didn’t 

need to have drinks to feel this kind of happy or euphoria. We 

walked hand in hand to the living room. Walter and Astrid had gone 

back into the kitchen to finish making Walter’s Strawberry   
Supreme milkshake. Peter and I both sat on the couch and started 

kissing each other. This had to be the best day ever. I stopped 

kissing Peter and pulled out my cell phone from my pocket and 

dialed Rachel’s number.

“Rachel it’s me. Guess what? I’ve got some good news for you. 

Can you be over in say ten minutes?”

I hung up my phone and resumed my position of kissing Peter. 

When the doorbell rang Peter and I broke apart. I inhaled his scent 

of his cologne. Pine. It was invigorating. I straightened myself out 

and went to the front door. Opening it, Rachel walked in with Ella 

by her side. When I closed the door behind them, Rachel looked at 

me with expectant eyes, much like Walter had.

“Well Liv, what’s your good news?”

Peter and I gave each other goofy smiles and then turned back to 

Rachel. Ella seemed to feel my excitement too. I smiled more and 

looked at them, letting them wait a moment longer. Then I burst 

through the silence nearly yelling it out.

“I’m having a baby!”

Rachel squealed and pulled me into her arms for a hug. I could feel 

Ella’s little hands tugging at my shirt. I stopped hugging Rachel and 

peered down at my niece, happy tears streaming down my face. 

Ella noticed and spoke to me.

“Aunt Liv, don’t be sad. You should be happy. You’re having my 

baby cousin.”

I wasn’t sad, I was so happy that I was crying. I felt that this baby, 

number four would be the lucky one. I gently placed my hands on 

Ella’s cheeks and smiled at her.

“I’m not sad baby girl. These are happy tears. I promise you, you 

will get to help pick out things for this baby. You can even help 

Uncle Peter paint the baby’s room. What do you think of the color 

pink?”

Ella’s face lit up when I mentioned the color. Pink it was going to 

be then. Peter and Walter about had a fit when I mentioned the 

color. I had an inkling where they were going with this 

conversation.

“Pink Liv? Really? We should paint the room blue. We’re having a 

boy. I’m sure of it. Even if this baby turns out to be a girl, can’t we 

just paint the room some boring color only you would choose?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and so did Ella. She was only 

copying what I was doing. There was no way that this baby was 

going to be a boy. Peter huffed; he wasn’t going to win this 

conversation. I was the one after all, that was carrying this baby, 

not Peter.

“Okay Liv, when you start showing, and you carry low, then we’ll 

know it’s a boy and we’re naming him after me. If you carry high, 

then we’ll know it’s a girl and you can name her Emily. Do we 

have a deal?”

Before either of us could make a decision on what to do, Walter 

interrupted and stepped in for his son. Using one of his scientific 

conversations with us, he quickly quieted Peter and I both.

“Actually son, if Agent Dunham carry’s this child ‘low’ doesn’t 

necessarily mean that the child will be male. Same thing goes for if 

she carry’s the child ‘high’ doesn’t necessarily mean that the child 

is female either. There are many factors to consider here. You 

cannot tell the child’s sex until the sixth month of pregnancy. Quite 

the ways away, I assure you son. Don’t worry; there is plenty of 

time to squabble over that. Would anyone like a fresh Strawberry 

supreme milkshake?”

The End


End file.
